A Jewish man who went rushing into to a synagogue in Paris dressed as a jihadist brandishing a Kalashnikov and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’, has been arrested
The 40-year-old man, who has been branded an idiot, said he pulled the stunt to ‘lighten the mood’
The incident happened on Thursday evening when members of the Habad Loubavitch synagogue in eastern Paris were celebrating the festival of Purim, an annual festival where people dress up.
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RT reports:
The ‘attack’ came as a surprise for the soldiers guarding the entrance to the synagogue, but “created a certain emotion” among them, police sources told the Local.
Members of the synagogue were shocked until they understood they actually knew the ‘jihadist.’
However, the man was ordered to present himself at the local police station on Friday.
After the visit, his told Le Parisien newspaper that he had “wanted to lighten the mood.”
“I think I made a big mistake,” he added.
The Habad Loubavitch synagogue is located in the eastern Paris suburb of Vincennes, where gunmen shot four Jews last year.
It’s not the first controversy over the last few months linked with the French Jewish population and the jihadist threat: in February, 45-year-old Jewish teacher Tzion Saadon from Marseille was detained after claiming he had been beaten up by jihadists.
He now faces a trial and possible prison sentence, as security forces believe he may have fabricated the story.
Another Jewish teacher, Stephane Aroule also sparked a full-scale terrorist alert when he said a man wearing a balaclava and brandishing a box cutter and scissors had entered the Jean-Perrin nursery school in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers.
Niamh Harris