Anti-Semitic attacks in Europe in recent years
A unifying thread links the terrorists who’ve targeted Europe’s Jews
BRUSSELS, Belgium — Here is a recap of anti-Semitic attacks in Europe in recent years as Mehdi Nemmouche, the alleged killer in the May 2014 terror attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, is to appear in court for the start of his trial.
2012: France, Mohamed Merah
On March 19, 2012, in the southern French city of Toulouse, self-described Al Qaeda sympathizer Mohamed Merah shoots dead four people, including three children, at a Jewish school.
A few days earlier, Merah, a 23-year-old Frenchman of Algerian descent, had shot dead three soldiers based in a nearby garrison town of Montauban.
The killing spree is the deadliest on Jews in France in three decades.
On March 21, 2012, police kill Merah after a 32-hour siege of his home.
2014: Belgium, Mehdi Nemmouche
On May 24, 2014, a gunman armed with a pistol and assault rifle attacks the Jewish Museum in central Brussels, killing two Israeli tourists, a French volunteer and a Belgian museum receptionist.
Six days later Mehdi Nemmouche is arrested in the southern French port city of Marseille as he is getting off a bus from Brussels.
Nemmouche had returned from Syria where he had been fighting alongside Islamist extremists.
His trial is due to begin on Thursday following jury selection on Monday.
2015: France, Amedy Coulibaly
On January 8, 2015, gunman Amedy Coulibaly, claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group, kills a policewoman in the Paris suburb of Montrouge.
The next day he takes hostages at a Jewish supermarket, killing four more people before being gunned down in a police assault.
2015: Denmark, Omar El-Hussein
On February 14, 2015, Omar El-Hussein, a 22-year-old Dane of Palestinian origin, opens fire at a Copenhagen cultural center hosting a debate on Islam and free speech, killing a Danish filmmaker and wounding three policemen.
Later that night the gunman, who had pledged allegiance to IS on the internet, kills a Jewish volunteer security guard outside a synagogue and wounds two more police officers.
A few hours later El-Hussein is shot dead by police.
