Jewish man waves fake gun in Paris synagogue and shouts God is great 'to lighten the mood'

A Jewish man has been arrested in Paris after rushing into a synagogue dressed as a terrorist while waiving a fake Kalashnikov in front of him and shouting ‘God is the greatest’ in Arabic.

The 40-year-old caused fear and outrage during the assault in the district of Vincennes, which is where an Islamic State gunman murdered four Jews last year.

Astonished soldiers guarding the Habad Loubavitch synagogue were ‘taken by surprise’ when he struck last Thursday, said a local police source.

This was just two days after Isis killers brought carnage to Brussels, blowing up innocent civilians at the city’s airport and in a Metro station.

Members of the Paris synagogue were celebrating the festival of Purim, during which people dress up in historical costumes and give each other presents.

The source said the man wore long Arabic robes, and shouted ‘Allahu Akbar; which means ‘God is greatest’.

‘It created a certain amount of worry among the soldiers,’ said the source, one of numerous guards who have been stationed around places of worship because of recent terror attacks in Paris.

After reporting at police station on Friday, the man responsible – who has not been identified – told the Parisien newspaper: ‘I wanted to lighten the mood, I think I made a big mistake.

‘Purim is a special party where you can let go and drink. I had an Arab costume with a red and white headscarf and a Kalashnikov.

‘Arriving at the synagogue, I told the soldiers that it was a fake. I laughed with them. I shouted Allah Akbar’. The man is believed to have been released without charge.

In February, a Jewish teacher who claimed he was attacked by jihadists in France was taken into custody and faces prison following trial.

Tzion Saadon, 45, invited the press to his house in Marseille the day after the supposed attack in November, saying he had been beaten by three men claiming to represent the jihadist group.

But police today said the teacher had been arrested for allegedly fabricating the story.

And in December, another pro-Israel teacher was taken into custody after saying he was attacked by an 'ISIS aggressor'.

Stephane Aroule, 45, is also said to have tried to spread hatred against Muslims by fabricating the stabbing.

He sparked a full-scale terrorist alert when he said a man wearing a balaclava and brandishing a box cutter and scissors had entered the Jean-Perrin nursery school in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers.

The area has a large Muslim population, many of whom have complained of stigmatisation in the wake of the terrorist attacks last year.

Jewish man waves fake gun in Paris synagogue and shouts God is great 'to lighten the mood' | World | News | London Evening Standard