Police in Paris are searching for a man who verbally assaulted a Jewish family on the metro and shouted, “Hitler was right”, Ynet reported on Thursday.
The incident was filmed by a young woman who said she was complaining about the culprit to the police. The clip of the incident was posted on social media and the police said they had launched an investigation and are certain they will apprehend the man quickly.
The young woman, who was the only one present on the train who came to the defense of the Jewish family, told the police people were afraid to intervene.
“I boarded the metro and had my earphones on with music when this man came on to the train and started cursing and spitting,” she said. “He shouted at the Jewish family that all Jews should be killed. He said they were a bunch of bastards, are committing crimes against humanity and spat on them.”
Paris: une femme porte plainte après des insultes antisémites entendues dans le métro pic.twitter.com/bSbCvkhnV5
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) August 15, 2024
France has seen a dramatic increase in incidents of antisemitism since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and the war in Gaza which followed.
Last month, MK Sharren Haskel revealed that her 88-year-old grandmother was violently attacked in France after she was seen wearing a Star of David necklace.
In June, a 12-year-old Jewish girl was raped in a park in the Paris suburbs. Two 13-year-old boys have been charged with rape and making antisemitic insults.
Before that, vandals painted dozens of blood-red hands on the Wall of the Righteous, a memorial for the French citizens who risked their lives to save Jews during the Second World War, at the Mémorial de la Shoah Holocaust museum in Paris.
A recently published report by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) found that French Jews live in fear of antisemitism, with a majority having directly experienced antisemitism.
Previously, CRIF, the umbrella organization of the Jewish organizations in France, published a report which found that antisemitism in France has increased by 1,000% since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
