French Jewish organisations on Sunday condemned an anti-Semitic attack in Paris in which a Jewish teenager was beaten by a gang of five youths with metal bars.
The 17-year-old was wearing a kippah when he was attacked in Paris' multi-ethnic 19th district on Saturday evening, according to Ariel Goldmann, vice president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France.
Goldmann said the teenager was in a coma.
"There is no doubt that this is an anti-Semitic act," he said.
"I call on authorities to do everything possible to arrest those responsible," said Goldmann.
Police said they had detained five youths in connection with the beating.
Sammy Gholzan, from the Bureau for Viligance on Anti-Semitism, said a group of six or seven youths attacked the teenager with metal bars and "smashed his skull".
He said the young man was a member of the local Lubavitch community.
Source: IOL (English)
Update:
"Very quickly, this was labeled anti-Semitic, but maybe it was a settling of accounts," wonders Celine Chalono, a journalist from Martinique. "In fact, it could be both. But it is this same logic here that makes me mad in this case. The reports all say black, without specifying that these kids are all African and Muslim, poor and very poorly integrated, whereas many blacks in France are Catholic and from the French Antilles, and we are integrated."
Source: Haaretz (English)
See also: Paris: Jewish residents not surprised by jihadis in their neighborhood
5 comments:
I'm confused. Are Muslims implicated in this attack or why is it listed here?
Hi anonymous,
Probably.
Apparently this might be related to regular fights over territorial control going on between groups of Jewish and African/North African youth on Saturdays in the neighborhood. (Le Point)
Besides which almost every newspaper reporting about this incident felt the need to add a line about the Muslims in France and their connection to the rise in anti-semitism. Maybe you should ask Reuters and AP why they think there's a connection to this incident.
Lastly - despite the blog name 'Islam in Europe', I can and do sometimes blog about other issues I find interesting.
I hope I helped dispel your confusion.
All the information one gets is (intentionally?) confused and confusing. The media never reported on these supposed communitarian fights over territory between Jewish and African/North African youth, but all of a sudden very convenientely they serve to explain what happened.
Paula
Yes, thank you. You've made your xenophobia crystal clear.
Hi Mr. Anonymous,
I'm confused.
French news are talking about calming down tensions between the communities (Jewish and X), about ongoing fights between Jews and Africans/North Africans, about the fact that the attackers were probably Africans.
and all this in a neighborhood with a Jewish and Muslim community. Did I forget to mention that the latest French Jihadi network was based in the 19th arrondisement? (or maybe it's the one before last)
regardless of my personal opinion, and regardless of whether the attackers were muslims or non-muslims, this affects the muslim community.
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