Jewish woman badly injured in Nice terror attack has died
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                  Jewish woman badly injured in Nice terror attack has died

                  Jewish woman badly injured in Nice terror attack has died

                  19.07.2016, Jews and Society

                  A Jewish woman who was badly injured in Thursday’s truck ramming terror attack in Nice has died.

                  Raymonde Mamane, 77, was critically injured and put on a respirator following the attack.

                  Mamane’s sister, Clara Bensimon, 80 is still in a coma according to reports, which also say she had to have her legs amputated as a result of her injuries.

                  A 31-year-old Tunisian-born Frenchman Mohamed Lahaouiaej Boulel deliberately drove a 19-tonne cargo truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the French southern city Thursday night. 85 people were killed, including several children, and over 200 injured.

                  A friend of Mamane declared: “The entire community is in shock. At first they couldn’t find the sisters but after searching far and wide, they located them in serious condition in the hospital. Who would have believed that we would be here today eulogizing her? It is a huge loss to the community and a great shock to everyone.”

                  The President of the Central Consistory of France Joel Mergui expressed his pain at the deaths and injuries, including children, saying the “unconventional means of destruction” shows that the “enemies of democracy will stop at nothing to reap death, chaos and terror, with the sole objective of imposing their jihadist worldview.”

                  “Like the United States and Israel, where their populations are equally affected by this new type of unconventional warfare, our country is in resistance against Islamism, this new denier of human rights, as Nazism was in the past,” he stated.

                  CRIF, the umbrella representative grouo of French Jewish Institutions said it was “horrified” by the bloody attack. “The attack happened on a day when we celebrate the ideas of liberty, equality and brotherhood in France. So it’s very important to reinforce those principles, and for French society to be united,” the organization’s Executive Director Robert Ejnes said.

                  French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has declared three days of national mourning starting Saturday.

                  “At the same time,” Ejnes added, “it’s important for people to realize that these terrorist attacks occurring around the world are of the same nature. There is a habit that when it happens in Israel, it seems to be different for the French press and the French people. We want to remind everyone that these attacks against democracy and civilization are the same whether they happen in Tel Aviv or in Nice.”

                  Maurice Niddam, president of the Jewish community in Nice, called on Jewish communities to send condolences and pray for the wounded victims of the massacre to recover. Prayers for the victims were at the heart of Shabbat prayer services.

                  Members of Chabad in Nice visited the hospitalized victims.

                  “We are in contact with all of the Jewish casualties families – day and night – and our phones haven’t stopped ringing,” said Chabad emissary Jeremy Zaoui.

                  In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned ‘’in the strongest terms’’ the horrific attack in Nice. ‘’We are again reminded that terrorism can strike anywhere and must be fought everywhere," he said.

                  He added that "Israelis stand united with the people of France today. We join you in mourning those who were killed and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded. Israel is ready to help the French government fight this evil until it is defeated."

                  Israeli Absorption Minister Sofa Landver expressed her deepest condolences to the victims and said she will be opening her office to help French Jews in need, specifically those looking to immigrate to the Jewish state.

                  "Sunday my office will conduct an emergency meeting with the Jewish Agency where we will discuss ways to help French Jews who want to make aliya," her office said in a statement.

                  She added that the ministry will approve a special plan for families willing to move to the Negev or the Galilee

                  The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), an organization which helps French Jews make aliyah, said it is receiving thousands of inquiries from French Jews who want to immigrate to Israel. It is expecting that figure to grow after the terror attack in Nice.

                  The organization brought 82 French Jews to Israel in June and is preparing to bring more than 150 others this month, including several families from Nice.

                  French Jews who were attending a IFCJ-organized aliyah meeting in Nice on Thursday met just one block away from the site where the terrorist drove the truck into the crowd of 30,000 people celebrating Bastille Day.

                  EJP