French authorities investigate apparent anti-Semitic attack in Paris

PARIS — French police are investigating an apparent anti-Semitic attack on a 29-year-old man in an apartment building in northeast Paris.

A group that tracks anti-Semitic violence and hate speech in France, BNVCA, sought an investigation, denouncing it as the latest in a string of scattered acts targeting Jews.

The man, identified only as David, says he was attacked by two people who hurled anti-Semitic insults, stole his watch and beat him unconscious in the hallway of his parents’ apartment building, according to BNVCA.

The Paris prosecutor’s office says it opened an investigation into potential charges of violent theft motivated by reasons of religion.

The man was treated for multiple injuries on his face, throat and legs, BNVCA says.

French police registered 687 anti-Semitic acts last year, from vandalism to threats to physical attacks – a 27% rise from the year before. Reports of anti-Muslim and other racist acts also rose.

— AP