French Muslim Man Arrested for Allegedly Killing Jewish Roommate

An axe to the head smashed Haddad’s skull and his body was subsequently torched and buried. Dridi eventually turned himself into the police. Haddad was originally from Tunisia and his family currently resides in Beersheba, Israel.

[additional-authors]

Aaron Bandler

August 30, 2022

Mohamed Dridi (Photo from Twitter)

A Muslim man was arrested for allegedly killing his roommate, Eyal Haddad, on August 20.

The Times of Israel (TOI) reported that the alleged assailant, Mohamed Dridi, confessed to killing Haddad, 34, because Haddad owed him 100 euros and because Haddad was Jewish. An axe to the head smashed Haddad’s skull and his body was subsequently torched and buried. Dridi eventually turned himself into the police. Haddad was originally from Tunisia and his family currently resides in Beersheba, Israel.

Photo of the murderer Mohamed Dridi; more here (English translation available) – https://t.co/SLzUHygH4d pic.twitter.com/jwjsoAHvRP

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) August 29, 2022

Various Jewish groups are calling for authorities to look into every possible motive for the killing, including antisemitism. An official in an unidentified Jewish organization told The Jerusalem Post that the killing appeared to be the result of a feud between friends rather than being the result of antisemitism. “It’s been three months with three Jews being killed in weird situations in France, so we need to understand if there is a reason behind these terrible situations,” the official said.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted, “Why is it that when a Jew is murdered in #France there is always a struggle to get all the facts from the authorities?”

Why is it that when a Jew is murdered in #France there is always a struggle to get all the facts from the authorities?https://t.co/67Y8EG7KOQ via @timesofisrael

— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) August 29, 2022

Aviva Klompas, former head of speechwriting at the Israeli Mission to the United Nations, tweeted that the “ensuing silence” over Haddad’s death “is an outrage.” “Where is the media? Where are the French authorities? Where is the EU?” she asked. “Raise you voice and demand action.”

Eyal Haddad, a 34-year-old French Jew, was brutally murdered because he was Jewish.

His death is a horrific tragedy. The ensuing silence is an outrage.

Where is the media? Where are the French authorities? Where is the EU?

Raise you voice and demand action.

— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) August 29, 2022

Former Miss Iraq Sarah Idan criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for not denouncing Haddad’s killing. “Islamists succeed when our leaders don’t condemn their crimes they’re emboldened when our mainstream media turn blind eye to their threat, they are empowered when people are afraid to criticize their ideology out of the fear of being labeled as islamphobes,” she wrote.

Islamists succeed when our leaders don’t condemn their crimes they’re emboldened when our mainstream media turn blind eye to their threat, they are empowered when people are afraid to criticize their ideology out of the fear of being labeled as islamphobes.

— Sarai (Sarah Idan) Miss Iraq (@RealSarahIdan) August 29, 2022