Jewish woman attacked in Marseille train station

[Shammu]

Jewish woman attacked in Marseille train station
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    Apr. 26, 2007

A 22-year-old Jewish woman suffered a vicious anti-Semitic attack by two men of Middle Eastern appearance in a train station in Marseille, France on Thursday night.

The attackers tore the Star of David chain from around the young woman's neck, lifted up her shirt, painted a swastika on her stomach and then fled the scene.

Local police opened an investigation into the attack but had not yet found the assailants.

Head of the Jewish Agency delegation in France, David Roche, said the incident was the most severe anti-Semitic attack in France since the murder of the young Jewish male Ilan Halimi by a gang of Muslim youths in February 2006.

In response to the attack, Jewish Agency Chairman Ze'ev Bielski released a statement saying that specifically during the course of the largest display of democracy France has known in many years "this barbaric act" is carried out.

"We are doing our utmost so that the issue of the fight against anti-Semitism will top the agenda of the candidates for the presidency and of the candidate who is elected," continued the statement.

Jewish woman attacked in Marseille train station

[Shammu]

Swastika drawn on French Jewish woman in anti-Semitic attack
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent

A young Jewish woman was viciously attacked on Thursday by unidentified assailants in a train station in Marseilles. The attack was described by one observer as the "worst anti-Semitic incident in France since the murder of Ilan Halimi" over a year ago.

French police investigating the incident have imposed a gag order on all details of the attack, but David Roche, a Jewish Agency representative in France who is in touch with officials there said the incident is being described as an anti-Semitic attack.

According to details received from Roche, the attack occured in the afternoon when a 22-year-old woman arrived at the metro station of the La Rose district - which has a mixed Muslim and Jewish community.

According to reports, two unidentified men of Middle Eastern appearance approached the woman and began abusing her. At some point, they began hitting her, and one report states that she was dragged by the hair.

When they saw a Star of David on her neck, they lifted her shirt and drew a cross on her abdomen. One of the witnesses said it was a swastika.

The two assailants fled the scene.

In a telephone interview from Paris, Roche told Haaretz that Marseilles police have set up a special investigation squad and are searching the La Rose district.

The young woman gave testimony to the police for many hours, and sources at the Jewish Agency say she was confused and found it difficult to tell her story.

Swastika drawn on French Jewish woman in anti-Semitic attack