Anti-Semitic violence is continuing in France, where two Jews were attacked last week in separate incidents that led to both being rushed to hospitals. One was a teen.
Both attacks occurred in the Paris area.
Last Friday four Middle Eastern-appearing attackers ages 17 to 20 attacked a 16-year-old Jewish boy wearing a kippah in central Paris.
The boy was jumped as he left his home, according to a report by the BNVCA – the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism.
A fifth person, also of Middle Eastern appearance, joined the group and urged the attackers to “break” the victim, calling him a “coward.”
An Asian woman who saw what was happening stopped the beating by threatening to call police.
The victim was taken to Rothschild Hospital, where he underwent emergency eye surgery and other treatment for mild to moderate wounds. He later filed a criminal complaint with police.
Earlier in the week, a Jewish mother was assaulted by three African women after she complained about the behavior of children she thought were theirs.
The children hurled a soccer ball at the Jewish woman’s daughter.
According to the BNVCA this incident took place three days prior to the attack in Paris on the Jewish teen, May 13, on a street in Sarcelles – a Paris suburb.
“Hitler didn’t finish the job!” the women shouted, witnesses said. Jews are “a filthy race,” they continued. “You need some more beatings.”
The beating she got was severe enough to hospitalize the woman, identified in the BNVCA report as L.D. She also filed a criminal complaint with police who were called to the scene.
The northern suburb of Paris has been the scene of other attacks as well, and is home to some 60,000 Jews. Muslim immigrants from Africa and the Middle East also make their home in Sarcelles.
Earlier this year, in January, terrorists from Al Qaeda and Da’esh – the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – carried out a series of attacks in Paris. A number were aimed specifically at Jews, according to a “hit list” later recovered by police.
French President Francois Hollande vowed to protect Jews in his nation from such violence after those attacks. During a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation from the Auschwitz Nazi death camp, Hollande told French Jews: “Your place is here, France is your country.”
Hollande was good to his word: Some 10,000 French military personnel were deployed around the country following the wave of terror attacks that struck the nation on January 7, 8 and 9. Subsequently, a number of French troops were faced with death threats as a result.