Palestinian missions in Paris slam 'hateful' Jewish killings

Palestinian missions in France on Wednesday condemned the "hateful" attack two days earlier on a Jewish school in the southwestern city of Toulouse in which three children and a rabbi were killed. Palestinian diplomatic missions "condemn in the strongest possible terms the hateful attack carried out in Toulouse," a statement said. "All racist crimes are attacks on humanity in general and on the republic in particular." "It appears the weapon used in that massacre is the same as that used previously against three French soldiers of different origins, which leads one to suppose the killer is driven by a multifaceted racist hatred," it said. The statement came as French police besieged a flat in Toulouse where a man of Algerian origin was holed up, claiming to belong to Al-Qaeda and to have carried out the shootings to avenge Palestinian children. The statement was issued in the name of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestinian Authority, and Palestine's missions to France and UNESCO, which is headquartered in Paris.