UN's Ban condemns shooting at Jewish school "in the strongest possible terms"; US "shocked, saddened," offers condolences.
By JPOST.COM STAFFEU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Gaza 311 (R)(photo credit: REUTERS/ Mohammed Salem)
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Monday compared the shooting at a Jewish school, with "what is happening in Gaza," AFP reported. Earlier Monday, a gunman opened fire at a crowd of parents and children outside a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, killing four people.Rabbi Yonatan Sandler, a 30-year-old French-born teacher from Jerusalem; his two children Aryeh, 6, and Gavriel, 3; and 8-year-old Miriam Monsonego, the daughter of the school’s principal, died in the attack. Several others were wounded.Speaking in Brussels at a meeting with Palestinian youth, Ashton said that "When we think about what happened today in Toulouse, we remember what happened in Norway last year, we know what is happening in Syria, and we see what is happening in Gaza and other places - we remember young people and children who lose their lives," she said.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the Toulouse attack. In a statement released late Monday, Ban stated that he "condemns in the strongest possible terms this act of violence and expresses his sincere condolences to the victims' families and the Jewish community, as well as to the government and people of France."The US also added its condemnation over the attack, as State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland stated Monday that the US was "shocked and saddened to learn of the horrific attack at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France. We join the Government of France in condemning this unprovoked and vicious act of violence."Nuland also offered condolences to the bereaved families and their community.
