Paris-area synagogue nixes event with chief rabbi ahead of anti-Israel protests

(JTA) — A synagogue in a southern suburb of Paris canceled an event featuring the city’s chief rabbi.

The Yaguel Yaacov synagogue in Montrouge does not give a reason for nixing the event with Rabbi Michel Gugenheim, but it comes amid fears of anti-Semitic violence at anti-Israel protests in and around Paris.

The event planned for this evening was postponed abruptly hours before it was scheduled to begin. The Consistoire, French Jewry’s organization responsible for religious services, sent out an email to all of the recipients of its correspondence telling them the event had been postponed indefinitely.

Contacted by JTA, a Consistoire spokesperson and the spokesperson of the Jewish community of Montrouge decline to divulge any information regarding the reason for the cancellation.

Other communal events are scheduled to take place as planned, including a lecture by Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein this evening at a hotel in central Paris that is being organized by the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities.

Currently, an anti-Israel protest rally is planned for this evening at Republique Square, which is located about a mile away from the hotel where the CRIF event is scheduled to take place.

Another rally is being organized in the northern suburb of Stains, by its mayor, Azzedine Taibi.

— JTA