(JTA) — French police arrested three men suspected of attacking a young Jewish man in suburban Paris.
The suspects hurled anti-Semitic insults at the man and stole his cellular phone during the June 8 incident in Sarcelles, north of the French capital, according to the newspaper Le Parisien.
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls, meeting the day after the incident with leaders of the area’s Jewish community at the Great Synagogue of Sarcelles, affirmed his “determination to tolerate no anti-Semitic attack and no insult,” according to Richard Halimi, president of the Sarcelles Jewish community.
Last week, the Jewish community of Marseille in southern France reported that an unknown assailant had raped an 83-year-old Jewish woman in her home. According to some media reports, the attack may have been anti-Semitic in nature.
A “source close to the investigation” informed a representative of the Jewish community of Marseille that the rape attack occurred at 1 a.m. The attacker followed the woman into her home, hit and raped her, and left with some jewelry.
CRIF, the umbrella organization of the country’s Jewish communities, quoted reports alleging that the attack may have occurred after the perpetrators saw a mezuzah affixed to the woman’s door. A report mentioning this possibility appeared on the blog JSS News.
The French Interior Ministry recorded 148 anti-Semitic incidents in March and April. Forty-three of the incidents were classified as violent.
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