France pays tribute on Sunday to the victims of the 2012 jihadist attacks in Toulouse (south) in the presence of French, Emmanuel Macron, and Israeli Presidents, Isaac Herzog.
Ten years ago, Mohamed Merah, who was then 23 years old, carried out a series of attacks that left seven victims and a deep mark on the population.
The first victim was a 30-year-old soldier, who was shot in the head on 11 March 2012 in Toulouse. Four days later, three other soldiers were attacked when they were withdrawing money in front of a barracks in Montauban, further north. One of them will be quadriplegic.
And on March 19, two children aged 3 and 7 were shot from a motorcycle at close range in the courtyard of the Hebrew school Ozar Hatorah in Toulouse. A few seconds earlier, Merah also shot at a father and his son.
This Sunday morning, the former students of the school, renamed Ohr Torah, filled the courtyard to attend a ceremony presided over by the rabbi and director of the establishment, Yaacov Monsonego, whose daughter Myriam died in the attack.
The French head of state and his Israeli counterpart placed a wreath in the courtyard of the Ohr Torah school, at the foot of the “Tree of Life”, a monument to the victims.
“The pain is intense, what happened was traumatic and the absence will never be filled. But the will to live and solidarity within the school will be stronger,” said Ava Ouaknine, who is 19 years old and a friend of Myriam.
In the afternoon, a grand ceremony to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the attacks should bring together Macron and Herzog, as well as former French presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, together with 2,000 guests in a concert hall.
“The joint presence [of Macron and Herzog] aims to mark the friendship that unites France and Israel, as well as the willingness of the two heads of state to continue their fight against terrorism and anti-Semitism,” said the French presidency.
pab/jk/reb/ao/ap/rhl/wire/sag/mb