A Jewish man, 22, was the victim of an antisemitic and homophobic attack by two Muslims, illegal immigrants from Algeria, in the Paris suburb of Pantin. The attackers, ages 16 and 18, were arrested.
The assailants - who saw on his Instagram feed that he is Jewish, homosexual and a supporter of Israel - grabbed the Jewish man, dragged him behind a truck, and tried to rape or sodomize him. He resisted and screamed. People passing by heard the screams and saved him.
The French newspaper Le Parisien, which spoke with the young man's lawyers, reported that the attack happened on October 8 when he was on his way home from a job interview. The young Jewish man realized that he was being followed.
The two approached him and searched through his Instagram account on his phone, until they encountered the Israeli flag and the pride flag. At this point the two attacked the Jewish young man, while also insulting him verbally, calling him "dirty Jew," and slapping him. They then dragged him behind a truck, tried to rape or sodomize him and stole his cell phone. Hearing his screams, passers-by called for help and saved him.
Police who were called to the scene arrested the two teens. They are accused of attempted assault, attempted rape on the grounds of sexual orientation and religion, and attempted robbery as part of a group. The young Jewish man broke his silence two weeks after the incident, saying: "I was the perfect target, because I am Jewish and I am gay." He is assisted by lawyers from a European Jewish organization, which provides free assistance to victims of antisemitic physical attacks.
The investigation uncovered that during the evening he was not the only person the duo tried to attack. Security cameras showed that the two young men approached passers-by at random, but they did not attack them.
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