Blog : France 42

A 22-year-old Jewish woman suffered a vicious anti-Semitic attack by two men of Middle Eastern appearance in a train station in Marseille, France on Thursday night 26.04.07.

The attackers tore the Star of David chain from around the young woman's neck, lifted up her shirt, painted a swastika on her stomach and then fled the scene.

In response to the attack, Jewish Agency Chairman Ze'ev Bielski released a statement saying that specifically during the course of the largest display of democracy France has known in many years "this barbaric act" is carried out.
(JPOST.COM 26.04.2007)

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Ahead of elections, France refrains from calling incident anti-Semitic

MARSEILLES -Days before the presidential elections in France, authorities are reluctant to label as anti-Semitic an incident in which 22-year-old Audrey Brachelle was brutally attacked last Thursday in Marseilles. Brachelle, an accountant at a textile factory, told Haaretz she was followed by two Middle-Eastern looking assailants on her way to the metro station in La Rose, a Marseilles neighborhood home to many Arab immigrants as well as Jews. According to her account of the incident, they snatched her cellular phone. While she was resisting the robbery, they noticed she was wearing a golden locket bearing a Hebrew "Chai." That's when the robbery turned into an anti-Semitic attack. According to Brachelle, her attackers began striking her in the head. Then, one of them pulled a knife, cut a tuft of her hair and slashed her shirt. The two men then drew a swastika on her bare chest and fled the scene.

...calling the incident an anti-Semitic attack could have far-reaching political ramifications for the final round in the presidential elections, scheduled for May 6.
Anti-Semitism and violent behavior by Arab immigrants are hot topics that right-wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy often alludes to. He has warned voters that his left-wing rival, Segolene Royal, might endanger French society by being overly lenient in such cases.

(Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent 29.04.2007)
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seulement le 01.05.2007 j'ai trouve sur yahoo france un premier depeche de reuters sur l'agression:
Le parquet de Marseille fait état d'une agression antisémite

Le parquet de Marseille a ouvert une information judiciaire après une agression considérée antisémite commise la semaine dernière contre une jeune fille de 22 ans dans les quartiers du nord de Marseille, apprend-on de source judiciaire.
Elle a été ouverte lundi pour "vol et violences ayant entraîné une incapacité de plus de huit jours commis en réunion, avec arme et acte de racisme", a-t-on ajouté.
Selon le témoignage de la victime, deux hommes l'ont agressée alors qu'elle récupérait sa voiture sur le parking de la station de métro de la Rose.
Ils ont découpé son tee-shirt pour tracer une croix gammée au feutre noir sur la peau après avoir découvert qu'elle portait un symbole hébraïque en pendentif. Les deux hommes l'ont frappée avant de disparaître avec son sac et son téléphone portable.