March 19, 2012 | 3:27 pm

Another Crime of Hate?

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

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Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, and his sons: Aryeh and Gavriel.

A chilling sequel to my previous post:

Earlier this morning, a man riding a black motorcycle opened fire outside of “Ozar Hatorah” school in Toulouse, France. Israeli teacher Jonathan Sandler, his two children (3, 6) and another girl were killed.

Throughout the day, the French police investigated the shooting, while trying to figure out whether it was a crime on criminal grounds or a crime of hate.

A couple of hours ago, I heard the one thing I hoped not to hear. According to one of the leads, the main suspects are three Neo-Nazis who served in the French army and were recently dismissed. The murder weapon also appeared to be connected to two other murder cases from the past two years, where French- Muslim soldiers were killed.

According to recent reports, in 2008, the French authorities noticed Neo-Nazi undercurrents throughout a certain unit, and started a “clearing operation.” A photo of the three suspects saluting the Nazi flag was found, and they were released from service. People who believe in violence, and have hatred running through every inch of their body, will stop at nothing. As I’ve stated before, Neo-Nazis still exist. They are not many and try to stay under the radar.  World leaders choose to handle violence of Anti- Semitic background just like any other violence case. The criminal gets caught, then sent to prison.  This is exactly what the world leaders did 70 years ago. Putting Neo-Nazis in jail isn’t going to stop the Neo-Nazi party. This is just like taking care of the symptoms, instead of putting an end to the disease. 

The French government did something truly remarkable, in my opinion. They tried to cure the disease. They took people who believe in the unbelievable out of the system, before they had the chance to infect it. Even though, it is very important that we all remember this is not the end, but merely the beginning. People who are fed by hate will not stop at red light. The world should not only condemn, but also act.  I looked up this story online, and found very few “hits” in English. This is why I’m writing this story here for you, so we can enhance the awareness of such unforgiveable crimes.

Four human beings found their deaths, probably due to the simple fact of their religion.  Violence on similar grounds occurs every day. How many times a week do we read or hear of lives being taken because of pure hate? Just because he was gay, just because she was Jewish…We are all dealing with outside threats: from nuclear weapons to global warming. The world isn’t exactly Disneyland as it is, so let’s do our best to put an end to the inside threats.