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SARCELLES, France — Religious leaders gathered for an interfaith service in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles a day after Jewish-owned businesses and a synagogue were attacked during Sunday’s banned demonstration against the Israeli offensive in Gaza. As residents of Sarcelles, a multi-religious suburb north of Paris with a vibrant Jewish community, emerged from their homes on Monday to take stock of the situation, many broke down in tears at the scenes of vandalism. “We called our town 'Little Jerusalem' because we felt at home here,” said Laetitia, a longtime Sarcelles resident, between sobs. “We were safe, there were never any problems. And I just wasn't expecting anything like this. We are very shocked, really very shocked." Outside a line of burned down shops and a bank office with its windows smashed, a woman in a pink Islamic veil consoled her sobbing Jewish neighbour. At an interfaith service Monday evening at a Sarcelles synagogue, senior religious leaders – including Haim Korsia, the chief rabbi of France, and Hassen ...      Read more

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