Jewish youths said to attack two Algerian teens in Paris
Two North Africans reportedly set upon by dozens of Jewish youngsters; police release suspects for lack of evidence
Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Two Algerians were attacked by a gang of Jewish youths in a Parisian suburb as they carried out deliveries to restaurants in the area, Le Parisien reported earlier this week.
The two victims, high school students aged 17, were delivering bread on Sunday evening in the Saint-Mande suburb that lies southeast of the capital when the became involved in an altercation with local Jewish residents.
One of injured teens said the incident started with an “simple exchange of looks.”
However, as tempers flared dozens of other “young” people reportedly joined in the fray, kicking, punching, and butting the two delivery boys.
One of the victims suffered a head injury, bruising to the scalp, and bruises on the forehead and left shoulder. The other teenager, who regularly delivers bread to restaurants that is baked in his parents’ bakery, said that the attacks were racially motivated.
“They told us dirty Arab, you have nothing to do at home,” he said. “Here is our neighborhood.”
According to the report, a Polish friend of the victims who tried to help was also attacked.
A large number of police arrived at the scene and arrested three people, two of them minors. All were released due to lack of evidence.
All three of the victims were briefly hospitalized and lodged complaints with police.
In July thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators rioted in Paris in protest against Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip. During the disturbances Molotov cocktails were thrown at synagogues. The violence has seen an increase in activity by France’s Jewish Defense League.