PARIS (AP) – An attack on a French couple is reviving worries about anti-Semitic sentiment in France amid a rising number of incidents targeting Jews, especially during the Gaza war earlier this year.
Assailants this week forced their way into an apartment in the Paris suburb of Creteil, tied up a young man and woman, demanded money and raped the woman, according to authorities.
France has western Europe’s largest Jewish community, which is concerned about a rise in Islamic extremism and the growing political weight of the far right. The French president said the attack harmed the nation’s values, and the head of France’s main Jewish organization pleaded for an aggressive government effort to stop what he called a “cancer” spreading through society.
In the Creteil attack, two suspects were given preliminary charges Wednesday night of religion-motivated violence, armed robbery, rape, sequestration and extortion, according to the Service for the Protection of the Jewish Community in France. French media reported that a third suspect was later charged, apparently as an accomplice.
The young man, whom authorities have not identified, told France-Info radio that the attackers “apparently thought that given that my family is Jewish, Jews have money.” He said the assailants repeatedly asked where the family money stash was kept and talked about attacking Jews.