To mark 10 years since the Toulouse and Montauban killings, French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli State President Isaac Herzog will travel to Toulouse on Sunday March 20. All the details on what is planned during these commemorations.
It is a symbolic date, the one that marks the 10th anniversary of the massacre of the Jewish school in Toulouse which shocked the whole of France, and particularly the Pink City.
This Sunday, March 20, 2022 has been chosen to organize the commemorations in Toulouse, with French President Emmanuel Macron and the President of the Israeli State Isaac Herzog as distinguished guests. Taking office last summer, this is the first time that the Israeli president has traveled to France to commemorate attacks.
At the beginning of the afternoon, the commemorations will begin with a symposium bringing together various speakers on themes such as national unity or the fight against terrorism.
The two heads of state will first go to the Jewish school Ozar Hatorah in Toulouse, for a wreath laying, before joining the Halle aux grains, where the rest of the events will take place, organized mainly by the president of CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France) of Toulouse, in partnership with the three local authorities.
« I had stopped organizing commemorations of this attack since 2016, because it was still very heavy for me and I preferred that the community gather around something else. But faced with the current fracture of our society, I said to myself that the 10 years of the attack should mark a special milestone “, explains Franck Touboul.
With the presidential elections just a few weeks away, we must work to create rallying points in our society. The whole point of this ceremony is to bring us together, and not to divide us as some seek to do.
Franck Touboul, President of CRIF Toulouse
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At the end of the afternoon, Emmanuel Macron and Isaac Herzog will attend the official ceremony, scripted by director Steeve Suissa. They will each speak, as well as CRIF President Franck Touboul.
Finally, at the beginning of the evening, the Halle aux grains will host a national preview of the play “Le nageur d’Auschwitz”, dedicated to Alfred Nakache, a former great French swimmer and survivor of the Shoah. The play has only been performed in Tel Aviv so far, where it was a big hit. The public will notably be made up of the two presidents, as well as high school students invited by the Occitanie Region.
Should also attend the day of commemoration of former presidents and prime ministers such as Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande or Bernard Cazeneuve.
It was in Toulouse that this wave of Islamic terrorism began which caused the death of more than 300 people in France, in particular with the attacks in Nice or Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. It is important that we come together to reflect together and remember the victims, to prevent this from happening again.
Franck Touboul, President of CRIF Toulouse
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As a reminder, in March 2012, Mohammed Merah perpetrated a series of Islamist attacks killing seven people in Toulouse and Montauban: three soldiers and four civilians, including three children from a Jewish school.
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