(JNS) After three boys were indicted for the rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a Paris suburb, French President Emmanuel Macron again spoke out against hatred of Jews.
At a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, June 19, Macron “spoke solemnly and seriously about the scourge of antisemitism” and called for a “dialogue” on racism and hatred of Jews in schools to prevent “hateful speech with serious consequences” from “infiltrating” classrooms, AFP cited a source as saying.
The boys, two aged 13 and one 12, were arrested on Monday and indicted on Tuesday.
The 13-year-olds were charged with gang rape, antisemitic insults and violence and issuing death threats. They remain in custody.
The 12-year-old was charged with antisemitic insults and violence and issuing death threats, but not with rape. He was allowed to return home after being charged.
On Saturday afternoon, the girl, who had spent the afternoon with friends, was crossing Henri Regnault Park in Courbevoie, when she came across two boys, one of whom she vaguely knew. They blocked her way and forced her to follow them to an abandoned daycare center. A third boy joined them and started insulting the girl as a “dirty Jew,” the teenagers told police.
One of the attackers held a lighter next to her face and threatened to burn her. They forced her to perform sex acts on them, and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
Afterwards, the girl made her way home and told her parents what had happened. A friend who was with her when the boys took her was able to give a detailed description of the suspects, who police confirmed were at the crime scene through images from security cameras.
France’s Chief Rabbi Haïm Corsia wrote on X that he was “horrified” by the attack. “Justice must firmly sanction the perpetrators of this despicable act. No one can be excused from this unprecedented antisemitic surge. No one can ignore that the slayers of hatred also have their share of responsibility.”
France is home to the largest Muslim population Europe and has seen a surge in antisemitic acts since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Antisemitic acts have tripled in the first months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, France24 reported, citing official numbers.
While Macron has condemned antisemitism, he has often taken a critical stance towards Israel’s war effort in Gaza. In March, Macron said that the forcible transfer of Gazans from Rafah ahead of a prospective Israeli military operation in the city would constitute a “war crime.”
