AJC: Firmer Action on Anti-Semitism Needed after Assault on French Jewish Couple

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Dec 03, 2014, 10:51 ET

PARIS, Dec. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC is horrified by the brutal assault on a Jewish couple, an act of violence that French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has labeled anti-Semitism.

"Enough is enough!" declared Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, Director of AJC Paris, who, together with AJC Executive Director David Harris, will meet this week with Gilles Clavreul, France's new Inter-ministerial Delegate to Fight against Racism and anti-Semitism.

Three armed men broke into the home of a Jewish family in the Paris suburb of Creteil, gagged one of the sons and sexually assaulted his girlfriend. "Tell us where you hid the money," demanded the attackers. "You people, you always have money!" After securing an ATM code from the victims, cash was stolen. Two suspects have been arrested.

This latest anti-Semitic incident in France, one of the most savage since the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Ilan Halimi eight years ago, comes amidst a dramatic rise in assaults on French Jews this year. According to the Jewish Community Protection Service (SPCJ), there was a 91 percent spike in the first seven months of 2014.

"While government officials at the highest levels have been mobilizing to fight anti-Semitism, a new action plan is urgently needed to confront this growing menace, which threatens not only Jews, but French society at large," said Rodan-Benzaquen. "The fight against anti-Semitism is a fight for France's values."

Regarding the Creteil attack, Rodan-Benzaquen pointed out that 25 percent of the French population believes Jews have "too much power" in economics and finance, according to a recent survey on anti-Semitism in France by The Foundation for Political Innovation (Fondapol), a leading French think tank.

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SOURCE American Jewish Committee