French Jewish Politician Stabbed to Death in Flashpoint Paris Suburb

Image by Twitter

By JTA January 12, 2016

The body of a French Jewish local politician from Creteil near Paris was found riddled with stab wounds in his apartment.

Alain Ghozland, 73, who served as the municipal councillor of “The Repulicans” party (headed by Sarkozy), is believed to have been murdered but police have no leads in the investigation into his death, L’Express reported Tuesday.

Ghozland’s body was found Tuesday morning, after his brother called police because Alain Ghozland failed to show up at their synagogue, as he usually does every morning, the news channel RTL reported.

Ghozland’s apartment was thoroughly searched, possibly by the intruders, and his body showed deep lacerations that appeared to have been caused by a knife. According to MetroNews, his vehicle, previously parked by his home, has disappeared. The police are currently not ruling out the possibility that this is an hate crime.

Ghozland was very involved with the Jewish community in Creteil, one of the most important communities in France. His father was one of the founders of The Cretiel Cultural Israelite Association. A service in his honor will take place at 7 PM on Tuesday at the Grande Synagogue du Huit Mai in Cretiel.

Judicial sources said an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO