France on boil after alleged rape of 12-year-old Jewish girl

Two teenage French boys were charged with sexual assault of a 12-year-old Jewish girl they reportedly described as "dirty jew" in a stark cast from the past of the country's anti-jew record during the second world war. The incident spark widespread outrage across France and Jewish groups took to the streets to protest rising antisemitism.

President Emmanuel consequently acknowledged that schools in France are being threatened by the "scourge of antisemitism" as the police said that the incident was indeed a hate crime. The French president, currently campaigning for the snap polls announced in response to his party's trouncing in European Parliament elections, tasked his education minister Nicole Belloubet with ensuringsensitisation in schools about antisemitism.

"The horror has no limits. Rape, antisemitism: Everything is abominable in this crime committed in Courbevoie against a 12-year-old girl," Belloubet wrote on X, formerly Twitter. She added, "Justice, School, Republic: a single response against barbarism."

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Two 13-year-old boys were indicted on June 18on multiple charges, including sexual assault.

A third boy, aged 12, was charged with offences related to witnessing the alleged crime.

The French newspaper Le Monde called the police report "unbearable" in its details.

In recent years, French Jews have been victims of several acts of antisemitism.

Jewish groups have reported a spike in reported acts of antisemitism following Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel and the consequent war in Gaza.

Haim Korsia, France’s chief rabbi, wrote on X that he was "horrified” by the alleged rape. “Justice must firmly sanction the perpetrators of this despicable act,” Korsia wrote.

Also watch |Gaza siege triggers rise in anti-antisemitism; France, Russia witness anti-Jew sentiment | WION

Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen's National Rally withdrew its support for a local candidate who said in a now-deleted 2018 social media post that "gas did justice for the victims of the Holocaust."

Marine Le Pen also joined politicians from across the political spectrum in denouncing the sexual assault.

"The antisemitic attack and the rape of a 12-year-old child in Hauts-de-Seine revolt us," Le Pen wrote on X.

"The explosion of antisemitic acts, up 300% compared to the first three months of 2023, must alert all French people: the stigmatization of Jews for months by the far left through the instrumentalization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a real threat to civil peace. Everyone should be fully aware of this on June 30 and July 7," when elections are scheduled.

(With inputs from agencies)