French police checking attack reports

French police are investigating a young Jewish woman’s claim that she was attacked by Arabs in Marseilles. The woman, 22, said Thursday that she was attacked by two Arab men who tore off her shirt and drew a swastika on her stomach, yanked off her Star of David necklace and cut her hair. A team of seven detectives was assigned to investigate, given the sensitivities in the case. Marseilles, which has a huge Muslim population, has the largest community of immigrants in France, many of them from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and elsewhere in Africa. It also has one of the largest Jewish communities in France. Police are still checking the complaint and have not yet commented. The woman reported the attack to the Jewish community and the Jewish Agency for Israel, but the Simon Wiesenthal Center and a French Jewish group that fights anti-Semitism refused to comment until after police publish their report.