On 9 August 1982, the restaurant Jo Goldenberg, at 7 rue des Rosiers in the Jewish Marais of Paris, was attacked during lunchtime. The restaurant was a well-known Jewish establishment in the Pletzl, the historic Jewish quarter around Rue des Rosiers and Place Saint-Paul.

The attack of 9 August 1982

A commando threw a grenade into the restaurant and opened fire with automatic weapons. The shooting continued inside the dining room and on the street outside.

Six people were killed and twenty-two were wounded. The victims named on the commemorative plaque are Mohamed Benemmon, André Hezkia Niego, Grace Cuter, Anne Van Zanien, Denise Guerche Rossignol and Georges Demeter.

The attack was one of the deadliest antisemitic attacks in France after the Second World War. Its target was not a random restaurant, but a visible Jewish place in one of the main streets of Jewish Paris.

Attribution and investigation

The attack was attributed to the Fatah-Revolutionary Council of Abu Nidal, also known as the Abu Nidal Organization. French judicial sources describe it as a Palestinian dissident militant group, separate from the Palestine Liberation Organization.

For decades, the case remained without trial. It became one of the longest-running terrorism investigations in France. In July 2025, French anti-terror judges ordered six suspects to stand trial before a special terrorism court.

In November 2025, the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the referral to trial. In February 2026, the Cour de cassation also confirmed that the trial could proceed.

Plaque and judicial memory

In 2011, the Conseil de Paris approved the placement of a commemorative plaque at 7 rue des Rosiers. The plaque identifies the event as an antisemitic attack and records the grenade explosion, the shooting, the six dead and the twenty-two wounded.

On 16 April 2026, Mahmoud Khader Abed Adra, alias Hicham Harb, suspected of having supervised the attack, was extradited to France by the Palestinian Authority. According to Le Monde, the trial is expected to take place in 2027. Three defendants are expected to appear in court, while three others are expected to be tried in absentia.

The former Goldenberg site preserves the memory of the Rue des Rosiers antisemitic attack through the municipal plaque, the names of the victims and the continuing judicial process connected to the events of 9 August 1982.