Jews in Algiers Tense; Moslem Rebels Make Synagogue Their Headquarters

The ancient synagogue in the Casbah of Algiers, capital of Algeria, desecrated and wrecked inside the old walls, was taken over by anti-French rebels in the Casbah as the headquarters of the revolutionary National Liberation Front, according to authentic reports received here today from Algeria.

After two days of wild rioting in the Casbah, during which Moslem rebels sacked the synagogue, ripped a Torah into shreds, leaving the Holy parchment lying on the doorstep of the house of worship, and attacked many Jewish homes and shops, order was restored to the Casbah by the French forces today.

However, the situation affecting the Jews in the Casbah–many of whom have lived in that quarter for many generations–remained tense and grave, the dispatches reported. The rebels in the Casbah had their headquarters in the Cafe Zerrouk on the Place Rondon, directly across the street from the old synagogue. They made a shambles of the synagogue, raising their green and white flag over the dome of the Jewish house of prayer.

The Algiers dispatches reported that the anti-Jewish rioting was not part of the general campaign against Europeans, but had taken on a decided anti-Jewish character of its own. The influential Paris daily, Le Monde, said this evening that “anti-Semitism, a primary reflex in the North African country, which only a strong government can keep in check, appeared again during the riots.”

Rebel leaders charged that the rioting had started after Jews had fired on them from the balconies and windows of their homes. Jewish leaders indignantly denied these accusations as utterly false. Some of the rebel leaders told Paris newspapermen that their slogan, “Moslem Algeria,” meant they will no longer tolerate Jews in Algeria. Other rebels, however, said the slogan did not mean they were against the Jews.