A visibly Jewish teenager was assaulted in the suburbs northwest of Paris, The Jewish Chronicle reported, citing French media outlets.
The incident occurred on Sunday evening around 7:00 p.m. local time, according to the report. The 15-year-old boy, who was wearing a kippah, was leaving a metro station in Levallois-Perret, a residential area in the Hauts-de-Seine region, when two youths confronted him.
“They quickly remove his kippah, but the two individuals turn around and start telling him: ‘And you, the Jew, wait for us, wait for us,’” the boy’s mother told CNews TV. “My son stopped and turned around to see who was calling out to him. He then kept moving, but one of them managed to grab him by the hood.”
She added, “They cornered him near another subway exit and demanded: ‘Give us your cell phone.’ They tore off his earphones and then punched him in the face and mouth.”
A police report was filed after the incident.
David-Xavier Weiss, Levallois-Perret’s first deputy mayor, told CNews, “It can happen anywhere in France, at any time. Of course, it happens more in areas where there are more Jews. Levallois is home to the largest Jewish community in France, with 20,000 Jews among 65,000 residents. Naturally, the risks are higher in our city.”
France, like many other countries, has experienced a significant rise in antisemitic attacks following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent military action in Gaza.
Just last week, on the anniversary of October 7, a Jewish woman fell victim to a brutal attack at the entrance to her home in Paris.
She stated that three men attacked her, without provocation on her part. They threatened her with a box knife, uttered antisemitic threats, and even mentioned the events of October 7.
In August, a man verbally assaulted a Jewish family on the metro and shouted, "Hitler was right".
The incident was filmed by a young woman who said she was complaining about the culprit to the police. The clip of the incident was posted on social media and the police said they had launched an investigation.
In July, MK Sharren Haskel revealed that her 88-year-old grandmother was violently attacked in France after she was seen wearing a Star of David necklace.
In June, a 12-year-old Jewish girl was raped in a park in the Paris suburbs. Two 13-year-old boys have been charged with rape and making antisemitic insults.
Before that, vandals painted dozens of blood-red hands on the Wall of the Righteous, a memorial for the French citizens who risked their lives to save Jews during the Second World War, at the Mémorial de la Shoah Holocaust museum in Paris.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Sukkot in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)