A synagogue in Marseille is to be converted into a mosque, reflecting demographic shifts in the southern French city, a Jewish leader has told AFP. A Muslim cultural association, Al Badr, is to purchase the Or Thora synagogue, which is used less and less by the Jewish community, the city’s top Jewish leader Zvi Ammar said Tuesday.

“For the past 20 years or so we have seen the shift of the Jewish community to other neighbourhoods,” Ammar said, adding that he viewed the sale “positively”. “We all have the same God, the main thing is for this to proceed in harmony,” he said. The site near the city’s main rail station was built as Jews flocked to Marseille from Algeria after the north African country gained independence from France in 1962 following an eight-year war, he noted. FULL REPORT