Man tries to burn Israeli flag outside Paris kosher market

Police arrest 38-year-old; Rivlin meets with families of victims of last month's terror attack at Hyper Cacher

By ToI Staff 10 February 2015, 4:17 am
A policeman stands guard on January 21, 2015, in front the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket where jihadist gunman Amedy Coulibaly killed four Jewish men on January 9, 2015 in Paris. (AFP/Eric Feferberg)

French police arrested a man on Monday as he tried to burn an Israeli flag outside the kosher supermarket in Paris where four Jewish men were killed, and dozens held hostage, by a jihadist last month

The 38-year-old man was stopped in the act of burning the flag, according to Le Parisien. He was known to police for other cases of “wanton destruction.”

The January 9 terror attack at the kosher market by Amedy Coulibaly was part of a three-day terror spree that began on January 7 with the killing of 12 people at the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo by jihadist brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi. Coulibaly also killed a policewomen on January 8.

The Kouachis and Coulibaly were cooperating in their attacks.

The three were killed in separate standoffs with police on January 9 after a massive manhunt in and around Paris.

The four victims of the Paris Hyper Cacher attack, from left to right: Yoav Hattab, Yohan Cohen, Francois-Michel Saada, Philippe Braham. (photo credit: Courtesy)

In the aftermath, more than 10,000 soldiers were deployed around the country to protect sensitive locations, including major shopping areas, synagogues, mosques and transit hubs.

President Reuven Rivlin met with the families of the four victims of the Hyper Cacher attack on Monday — Yoav Hattab, Yohan Cohen, Francois-Michel Saada and Phillipe Barham.

President Reuven Rivlin meets with the families of the victims of last month’s terror attack at a kosher supermarket, in Paris, February 9, 2015. (Photo credit: Mark Neyman/GPO)

“There is no comfort that can ease your terrible pain.  Together with you, the whole people of Israel buried our brothers. Jews around the world today, are part of the State of Israel. All of us, wherever we are, are part of the same family. When one of our sons fall, one of our people, in the streets of Paris, we see them as part of our flesh, and the solidarity we feel is palpable. Our brothers, you, your pain is our pain,” the president told them.

The four men were buried in Israel last month.

JTA contributed to this report.

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