Alleged rape of 12-year-old Jewish girl sparks outcry against anti-Semitism in France

CNN
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Allegations that three boys raped a 12-year-old Jewish girl in northern France have sparked an outcry over growing anti-Semitism in the country, a key issue ahead of France’s upcoming parliamentary elections this month.

Politicians from all sides commented on the alleged attack. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the “scourge of anti-Semitism” that he said was raging in French schools, and far-right politicians blamed the left for not taking anti-Semitism seriously enough.

The Nanterre public prosecutor’s office announced on Wednesday that it had opened an investigation into the alleged “serious rape” of a minor after receiving “reports from a 12-year-old girl” about the June 15 incident.

Three boys aged 12 and 13 were taken into custody, the prosecutor said.

Whether the girl was the target of attacks because of her religion is part of the investigation. Two of the boys are currently being investigated for serious gang rape of minors, gang violence against minors for religious reasons, death threats and insults for religious reasons, the prosecutor’s statement said.

The third boy was granted “assisted witness” status in connection with the alleged rape, the prosecutor added.

The alleged attack occurred as the girl was returning home after meeting a friend. Two boys approached her and tried to block her way in front of her house. When a third boy joined them, the group began to physically attack the girl and shout anti-Semitic insults at her, BFMTV reported, citing police sources.

The girl received several death threats and one of the boys called her a “dirty Jew,” according to the BFMTV report.

According to the French Interior Ministry, anti-Semitic incidents in France increased by 284% between 2022 and 2023. In 2023, anti-Semitic acts accounted for 60% of all anti-religious acts, compared to 26% in 2022, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told the French Senate earlier this year.

The incident sparked a heated political debate over what politicians describe as an escalating problem of anti-Semitism in France, linked to the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, Jordan Bardella, the far-right hawk who is hoping for major victories for his Rassemblement National party in the upcoming elections, pledged to fight anti-Semitism if he is elected in three weeks. “Since October 7, an atmosphere of anti-Semitism has spread and developed in our country which is extremely worrying and which we must fight,” Bardella told reporters.

Bardella’s party colleague and far-right leader Marine Le Pen said in a post on X that the attack had outraged members of her party, highlighting the rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the country.

Le Pen said the recent surge in support of the war between Israel and Hamas showed a worrying “stigmatization” of the Jewish population, of which “everyone must be fully aware” when they go to the polls on June 30 and July 7.

Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal described the incident as “despicable” and took direct aim at his left-wing political opponent Jean-Luc Mélenchon, accusing him of having downplayed anti-Semitism in France by describing it as a “residual problem”.

Politicians in France have a “responsibility” to ensure that anti-Semitic rhetoric is not “trivialized,” Attal said on Wednesday in an interview with TF1 Info. He warned that trivialization could have “the worst” effects, especially among young people.

Mélenchon, for his part, expressed his “horrification at this rape” and wrote in a social media post that “it sheds a worrying light on the shaping of criminal behavior among young men and anti-Semitic racism.”

Voters’ anger over the issue was evident on Wednesday when protesters gathered outside Paris City Hall, BFMTV reported.

The demonstrators carried signs with slogans such as “Raped at 12 because she was Jewish” and “Anti-Semitism is not a relic” and listened to speeches by Jewish human rights activists in attendance.

“The circumstances of this crime must be fully clarified, including its anti-Semitic character, if this is confirmed,” said the Conseil représentatif des institutionales juives de France (CRIF), the main Jewish advocacy group in France.