A Paris teen is in a coma after being beaten in what French Jewish leaders are calling an anti-Semitic act. The 17-year-old boy was beaten over the head with metal bars Saturday night in eastern Paris. Media reports offered varying figures on the number of attackers, who were black, ranging from six to 30.
Ariel Goldman, the vice president of the French Jewish umbrella group CRIF, told the French daily le Figaro that the victim was wearing a kipah and “there is no doubt that this is a subject of an anti-Semitic act.” The attack took place at approximately 8 p.m. Saturday on a busy street during an annual music celebration.
Five youths are being held for questioning by Paris police, who said they are investigating the reasons for the assault. The National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism said that Jewish community leaders in the low-income 19th district of Paris had warned officials last week about groups of young blacks wandering through the neighborhood park threatening to attack Jews. “For the last few days we have noted a certain effervescence in this neighborhood, to the palpable concern of Jewish community members,” according to a bureau statement.
The multi-ethnic 19th district has one of the largest Jewish communities in Paris. It had the city’s largest number of recorded anti-Semitic acts in 2007.
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