The non-Jewish woman who claimed to have been attacked by Arabs who mistook her for a Jew in France admitted Tuesday that she had made up the entire story. Since then, groups have taken advantage of the affair to claim the Jewish community exaggerates anti-Semitism in France altogether.



One statement issued Tuesday by the ‘Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Between Peoples’ — an organization that consistently condemns Israel and campaigns for Arab causes— said that “irresponsible statements used by people who profited from this fabrication to once more instrumentalize anti-Semitism against a specific population and to increase inter-communal tensions.”



According to statistics released by French police, 135 out of 230 racist attacks in the first half of 2004, were committed against Jews or Jewish institutions.