Non-Jewish Woman the Brunt of Anti-Semitic Attack in Paris

July 11, 2004

Source: Jerusalem Post

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1089516099595

On July 11, 2004 the Jerusalem Post reported, "Six Arab youths attacked a 23-year old woman and her baby because they thought she was Jewish, Friday morning in a commuter train near Paris. The youths, aged 15 to 20, stole the backpack of a young mother traveling on the train. Rummaging through her documents for money and credit cards, they found out that her address was in the posh 16th arrondissement of Paris – in fact, her former address. 'All the Jews live there,' said one of the youth. The six then pulled knives, slashed the young woman's T-shirt and trousers and cut her hair 'for a souvenir,' they told her. Then they daubed three swastikas on her belly with black felt pens. When the train stopped at the Sarcelles station (North of Paris), they knocked over the baby buggy holding the woman's one-year old baby and fled. The woman, who is not Jewish, was not injured. Some twenty people were seated in the double-decker carriage all the time the six were harassing the young mother. According to the police reports, no one tried to come to her help or even pulled the signal to warn a controller. After the gang left the train, the young mother stayed on board with her baby and traveled another hour to reach her destination. She later went to the police station to file a complaint against her aggressors."