'A victory for extremism': Schools cancelled synagogue visits because of terrorism fears, claims Kingston rabbi

At least two Kingston schools have cancelled visits to synagogues due to fears of a potential Paris-style terrorist attack on Jewish places of worship.

In what a leading Jewish figure described as "a three-fold victory to perpetrators of terror and extremism", the Coombe Federation - Coombe Boys and Girls Schools, both in New Malden - withdrew from a planned visit to one of the borough's two synagogues as part of events marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. But the federation said the decision was influenced by the synagogues announcement that security was being stepped up in the wake of the Paris atrocities.

Rabbi Landau said another Kingston school, a primary, had also cancelled but he would not reveal which one. Four people - all Jewish - were killed at the Hypercacher kosher supermarket in Paris last month during a hostage taking by allies of ISIS. The attack occurred two days after 12 people were killed in a shooting at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Tolworth Girls' School and The Holy Cross School were among the schools that attended the synagogue workshops.

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