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Jewish Teenage Girl Pepper Sprayed in Paris

French watchdog group warns escalating conflict in Israel may trigger attacks

by
Isabel Fattal
July 10, 2014
Place du Colonel-Fabien in Paris, France. (Wikimedia Commons)
Place du Colonel-Fabien in Paris, France. (Wikimedia Commons)

In the latest in a growing list of anti-Semitic attacks in Paris over the past few months, a 17-year-old Jewish girl was attacked Tuesday at Paris’ Place du Colonel-Fabien square.

According to the French National Bureau of Vigilance against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA, a local anti-Semitism watchdog organization, the victim said in a statement that the attacker grabbed her by the jaw and sprayed pepper spray in her face while making anti-Semitic remarks before she managed to escape. She described the attacker as a young man of North African origin.

This incident is the most recent of a consistent stream of disturbing anti-Semitic acts in Paris, and the BNVCA warns that the escalating conflict in Israel may spark more attacks of this kind.

Isabel Fattal, a former intern at Tablet Magazine, attends Wesleyan University.