French Jews condemn attack on mosque on Corsica

Demonstrators on French island ransacked a Muslim prayer hall and attempted to burn copies of Koran

A man shows a newspaper article about Christmas Eve's clash in which two firefighters and a police officer were injured at the poor Jardins de l'Empereur housing estate, to journalists during a demonstration in Ajaccio, Corsica on December 27, 2015, after France banned demonstrations in part of the Corsican capital following two days of anti-Arab protests and sectarian tensions. (AFP/Yannick Graziani)
A man shows a newspaper article about Christmas Eve's clash in which two firefighters and a police officer were injured at the poor Jardins de l'Empereur housing estate, to journalists during a demonstration in Ajaccio, Corsica on December 27, 2015, after France banned demonstrations in part of the Corsican capital following two days of anti-Arab protests and sectarian tensions. (AFP/Yannick Graziani)

PARIS – The umbrella group of French Jewish communities condemned rioting at a mosque on the French island of Corsica, which occurred following an assault on two firemen there.

The events referenced in the statement by the CRIF umbrella group Saturday occurred in the Corsican municipality of Ajaccio on Christmas Day. Demonstrators ransacked a Muslim prayer hall and attempted to burn copies of the Koran, police said, following a night of violence that left two firefighters and a police officer injured.

They were wounded in Jardins de L’Empereur, a low-income neighborhood of the city when they were “ambushed” by “several hooded youths,” authorities said, according to France24.

Following “attacks on firefighters, and the desecration of a Muslim house of worship in Corsica, CRIF condemns firmly these anti-republican actions,” the group’s communications department wrote on Twitter Saturday.

In France, the term “anti-republican” is used to describe actions or opinions deemed contrary to the values of the French republic.

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