About a thousand people, most of them Jewish, demonstrated Wednesday evening at the Paris city hall square to protest the rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in the city of Courbevoie, west of the French capital, was investigated by the local police as an antisemitic incident. The demonstrators, who came to protest in response to the call of the organization #stopantisemitism, waved signs demanding an end to violence against Jews in the country.
"In the France of 2024, a girl is raped because she is Jewish," read one of the signs, which was carried by Alexandra, who lives in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. "We can't go on like this," she says. "I have children this age. How will we live? Will we wake up every morning and ask ourselves if some madman will take my daughter to a hangar and rape her? People need to wake up and understand what is happening around them."
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Protest in Paris: 'In the France of 2024, a girl is raped because she is Jewish'
(Photo: Tamar Sebok)
The rape case was revealed on Tuesday. Three boys were arrested Monday. Two of them, both aged 13, were charged with gang rape, antisemitic insults and violence and issuing death threats, and were remanded in custody. The third boy, 12, has also been charged with antisemitic insults and violence and issuing death threats, but not with rape. He has been allowed to return home after being charged.
The girl said the attack took place in an abandoned building on Saturday, and that the three attackers beat and insulted her because of her religion. A medical examination confirmed that she had been raped.
During the investigation, antisemitic comments and images were found on the phone of one of the suspects, including a photo of a burnt Israeli flag. The suspects called the girl a "dirty Jewess" and one of them put a lighter in front of her and threatened to burn her, La Figaro reported.
Julia, who lives in the heart of the city, also came to the demonstration. "I'm not afraid to wear the Star of David ... I wear it proudly," she said. She expressed disappointment with the number of demonstrators that came out. "There should have been thousands of people here, thousands of mothers of all colors and religions. Where are they?" she asked. She and Rebecca, another protester, started talking when they noticed that they were both wearing necklaces supporting the return of the Israeli hostages from Gaza.
Rivka, who lives in the heart of the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in the Paris' 19th arrondissement, also came out for the demonstration. "I have been insulted twice in the street, once by a boy of Arab descent and once by a man with a European appearance. Ignorant people import the conflict here," she told Ynet. "But it started before. How is it possible that the criminal who dumped Sara Halimi from the window is walking around freely? They didn't protect us and this is the result."
As much as possible, she tries to deal with antisemitism with the help of humor. "A 14-year-old boy called me 'Mein Kampf' when I was with the children and grandchildren. It hurt me, but I told myself that at least he has a general knowledge of the culture," she says.
A group of 17-year-old French Jewish teens also came to the demonstration. They stood covered with the French flag and carried a sign reading: "This could have been your sister" and "She was raped at the age of 12 because she is Jewish."
Attorney Élie Korchia, president of the Consistoire, the umbrella organization of Jewish communities and organizations in France, told Ynet that since October 7 French Jews have been living "in an intolerable atmosphere of antisemitism and anti-Zionism." He emphasized that from the moment the rapists learned that the girl was Jewish they began to attack and even said that they were "taking revenge for Palestine." He said that the community is supporting the girl and her family.
Officials from across the political spectrum in France condemned the rape, and French President Emmanuel Macron asked at the cabinet meeting that talks on antisemitism be held in school in the coming days. Jordan Bardella , chairman of the far-right National Front party, which is expected to make great gains in the elections at the end of the month, said that, since October 7, an antisemitic atmosphere has prevailed in France: "I have never had tolerance for any expression of racism," he emphasized.
The leader of the radical left and anti-Israel alliance, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who heads the La France Insoumise party, tried to focus attention on the behavior of the attackers, and less on the antisemitic motive. "Shocked by the rape in the city of Courbevoie," he posted online, "by the education and male behavior of the criminals that arise from it, as well as by the antisemitic racism. I express solidarity with the victim and her family and participate in their grief." Alongside this he wrote: "Let's not use the terrible crime and the suffering it causes in the media."