A Jewish family in Paris have their dog to thank for their lucky escape from a fire in their apartment that is being described as an anti-Semitic arson attack.
The family was awakened after midnight last Friday by the dog’s insistent barking to discover that their front door was on fire, with smoke rapidly filling up the interior of their apartment.
Someone had doused the door in a highly flammable liquid and set it alight.
Police arrested a neighbour of the family whom they suspect carried out the attack. The Muslim man had previously expressed extremist and anti-Semitic views online.
The week prior to this attack, the same family had their car set on fire by an unknown assailant. It is now thought that the same neighbour carried out both attacks.
The National Bureau for Vigilance Against Antisemitism (BNVCA) said, “The incident confirms BNVCA’s observation that anti-Semitic acts that began as targeting property belonging to Jews (synagogues, schools, community centres) or as assaults on people on the street have evolved into attacks on Jews inside their own homes,” the group wrote.
Earlier this year, Sarah Halimi, a physician and kindergarten teacher, was murdered inside her home by an Islamist neighbour whom prosecutors say was motivated by antisemitic hatred. Unfortunately, we are seeing a growing number of Jews being attacked by Muslims in France.
