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4 Jewish minors assaulted in France, mayor decries anti-Semitism

The mayor of the French city of Nice labeled the attack “anti-Semitic” and “intolerable,” demanding that such assaults not be trivialized.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Police arrested four men Saturday for beating four Jewish teenagers in the early hours of the morning in the southern French city of Nice, in an attack the city’s mayor immediately labeled “anti-Semitic.”

Mayor Christian Estrosi pointed out in a statement that one of the teens was wearing a Star of David on a gold chain which he was relieved of during the assault which left the victims bruised but not seriously injured.

“I condemn the intolerable anti-Semitic aggression of four young people in downtown Nice tonight,” he said. “The violence and cowardice of such acts must never be trivialized or unpunished. I expect severe justice to be meted out with regard to the aggressors.”

The police quickly found and arrested four of the five alleged attackers. However, according to the Le Monde Juif news site, the public prosecutor denied that their motives were anti-Semitic in nature.

“It’s a fight between young people in an alcoholic state on a Friday night,” Jean-Michel Prêtre, the public prosecutor, told Nice Matin. “This fight has nothing to do with religion.”

The mayor disagreed, however, and France 3 news reported that he phoned one of the families whose son was hurt to express his “solidarity with the Jewish community” in general, and the boys in particular.  He praised their “strength of character” and called their experience a “test” for them – but also for his country.

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“Such acts cannot be committed on the soil of the Republic, that is why I expect strict justice with regard to the aggressors,” he said.

The four men were still in custody as of Saturday evening.

France has seen a rise in anti-Semitic attacks over the last several years, with the most recent severe incident being the murder of Dr. Sarah Halimi in Paris in 2017, who was thrown off her balcony by her Muslim neighbor.

The New York Times reported in July that although Jews make up less than one percent of France’s population, nearly 40 percent of violent acts classified as racially or religiously motivated were committed against Jews that year. And this was a 20% increase over 2016, a rise the Interior Ministry called worrying.