Mideast briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 15, 2000

More synagogues attacked in France

PARIS -- Hours after three attacks on synagogues in France, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said Saturday that the government was taking steps to ensure the safety of the country's Jewish institutions.

Jospin said the Justice Ministry has advised prosecutors to deal severely with anyone who takes part in such attacks and that police will act aggressively to prevent "all acts and all attempted acts that are racist in character or anti-Semitic."

Dozens of anti-Semitic attacks against synagogues, Jewish schools and other institutions have occurred in France this month, linked to the mounting tensions in the Mideast.

In the south-central city of Lyon early Saturday, a stolen car was driven into the wall of a synagogue and set on fire, blackening the building and causing minor damage. Five youths were briefly detained by police for questioning.

Meanwhile, in suburban Paris, two synagogues were also targeted early Saturday, local authorities said. Around midnight, assailants tried to set one synagogue on fire by hurling Molotov cocktails at it. The devices failed to ignite the building, and there was no damage. Several hours later, three youths were taken in for questioning after allegedly throwing similar devices at another synagogue.

Police investigate fire at New York synagogue

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- An explosion and fire gutted a Jewish synagogue late Friday, and local and federal agents were attempting to determine if the building had been bombed. No one was injured.

The fire that raced through Temple Beth El appeared to have started in an office at the rear of the synagogue, investigators said.

Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms joined the investigation.

The fire occurred at the start of Sukkot, a weeklong festival celebrating the fall harvest and commemorating the desert wanderings of the Hebrews during the Exodus.

Last Monday, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, an arson blaze gutted part of a synagogue under construction in Harrisburg, Pa. In New York City, bottles were thrown at the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel last Sunday, breaking a glass front door.

No one was injured in either attack. Four young men were arrested in connection with the New York City incident.

Israeli army apologizes for farmer's shooting

JERUSALEM -- Israeli soldiers shot and critically injured a Palestinian farmer who, his family said, was riding his donkey near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, prompting the army Saturday to apologize for the shooting.

Ibrahim Abu Turki, 38, a father of 10, was in a coma with a bullet injury to the head and was hooked up to a respirator at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital.

The army said that a soldier intended to fire warning shots and inadvertently wounded Abu Turki on Friday.

U.N. expected to hold emergency meeting

UNITED NATIONS -- The General Assembly is expected to hold an emergency meeting next week on the Middle East to consider a resolution that would condemn "excessive use of force" by Israeli soldiers, according to a draft obtained by The Associated Press.

The draft is stronger than the resolution adopted by the Security Council last Saturday, but the wording was softer on Israel compared to past resolutions on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The draft supports continued negotiations in search of peace and takes no side on divisive issues such as Jerusalem, saying only that the holy places there must be respected.

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