The boy’s family described a rising climate of anti-Semitism since the 0ctober 7 attacks, that has become part of everyday life, saying they are considering leaving France for Israel or the United States.
A 13-year-old Jewish boy was violently assaulted and insulted in the elevator of his apartment building in Les Lilas , a suburb city near Paris, daily Le Parisien reported.
On October 16, he was accosted by five young people, three boys and two girls. in the elevator of his building. One of the girls allegedly asked him if his clothes were designer brands. “I asked her to stop and she called me a dirty Jew!” said the child, named Sasha. He was not wearing any distinctive religious symbols.
When he got out of the elevator, words were replaced by blows: “The girl who had insulted me kicked me from behind and I fell violently to the ground. My head, neck, and back hit the floor very hard,” the teenager recounted. Brought to hospital, he suffered a head injury, a bump on the back of his head, a stiff neck, and a bruised spine. “Since it happened, I don’t dare go out on the street anymore because I’m in pain and I don’t feel safe,” he said.
There is no doubt in his mind or that of his family: this was an anti-Semitic act.
A complaint has been filed. The prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into violence based on religion. No suspects have been arrested.
The family described a rising climate of anti-Semitism since the 0ctober 7 attacks, that has become part of everyday life and said said they are considering leaving France for Israel or the United States.
Sasha’s mother claimed that remarks and provocations have become a frequent part of their daily lives. Before this period, she said, despite a few isolated incidents, the majority of the neighborhood treated them with respect and wished them happy holidays. She also mentions a mezuzah found on the ground at the entrance to their home, packages deliberately damaged or not delivered, and the fact that the family now changes its name when placing orders to avoid being identified as Jewish.
She noted that several Jewish families in the neighborhood have already left the Paris region for Israel.
France saw nearly 1,600 anti-Semitic acts in 2024, a slight dip on the year before but still at levels unseen in recent years, according to Crif, the representative body for Jewish institutions in France.