On 30 March 1985, a bomb exploded inside the Rivoli Beaubourg cinema in the
4th arrondissement of Paris
The 4th arrondissement of Paris (''IVe arrondissement'') is one of the twenty arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''quatrième''. Along with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd arrondissement ...
, France, where an annual
Jewish film festival was being held. At the time the German film ''Eichmann und das Dritte Reich'' (1961) about
the Holocaust was being screened.
Eighteen people were wounded when the bomb exploded, planted under a seat, causing a hole and damage to the ceiling. The organisers received an anonymous letter a week before about to "blow everything up, including the director" of the festival. The bombing caused fears of a rise of
racism and
anti-Semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
in France, and came not long after two
Arabs were killed in southern France in racially-motivated attacks.
The next day, some 6,000 demonstrators including political and cinema elite marched around the cinema and a Jewish memorial near the
Hôtel de Ville protesting against the attack. President
François Mitterrand
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...
also condemned the attack.
Police said both
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
and
far-left
Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...
groups were the main suspects. Two
neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
groups reportedly claimed responsibility but police found it uncredible.
The Lebanese group
Islamic Jihad Organization[Konvitz, Josef W. ''Cities, Citizenship and Jews in France and the United States, 1905–2022 (Volume 2)''. Taylor and Francis, 2023]
Fabrice Nicolino
Fabrice Nicolino (born 1955) is a French people, French journalist.
Biography
Fabrice Nicolino, born in Paris, has worked various trades - including as a manual worker - before becoming Editorial secretary in the ''Femme Actuelle'' weekly in 1984. ...
, who was wounded in the blast, would again fall victim to a terror attack in Paris 30 years later in the
Charlie Hebdo shooting, in which he was critically injured in the leg.