French President Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen both condemned the gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl outside Paris, which authorities classified as an anti-Semitic attack.
President Macron said at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that French schools were being intimidated by “anti-Semitic threats” after a 12-year-old girl complained to police that she was with friends in a park near her home in Courbevoie, northwest of Paris, on Saturday when she was approached by three boys, two aged 13 and one aged 12. The girl was then allegedly dragged into a shed and raped by the boys, who yelled anti-Semitic slurs at her.
The two boys were charged on Tuesday. President Macron has instructed Education Minister Nicole Berube to discuss racism and anti-Semitic hatred in schools in the coming days to prevent hate speech with serious consequences from “seeping into” classrooms, the BBC reported.
Le Pen’s party’s victory in European elections signaled a broad rejection of mass immigration and other left-wing policies by voters in France and elsewhere, and she blamed “months of stigmatization of Jews by the far left.” President Macron called for early national elections following Le Pen’s far-right victory, which are due to begin later this month.
“The anti-Semitic attack and the rape of a 12-year-old in Hauts-de-Seine outrage us. The outburst of anti-Semitic acts, which increased by 300% compared to the first three months of 2023, should sound the alarm for all French people. The tool used by the far-left to stigmatize Jews for months is a real threat to civil peace,” Le Pen wrote on X.
“Everyone should be very aware of this on June 30 and July 7,” she added.
Two boys accused of raping a 12-year-old Jewish girl in anti-Semitic act in France
French President Emmanuel Macron and his rival Marine Le Pen have condemned the rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl outside Paris, an anti-Semitic attack that has shocked the country. (Getty Images)
France is in the midst of fierce parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7, with the front-runner, the right-wing National Rally party, seeking to make security and immigration central to the election.
Jordan Bardella, leader of Ms Le Pen’s party, said that if elected she would “combat the anti-Semitism that has plagued France since October 7”, the BBC reported.
The three boys were detained on Monday and the local Nanterre prosecutor’s office said Tuesday that two of the boys face several preliminary charges, including aggravated gang rape of a minor under the age of 15, religiously motivated violence and public insult, death threats, attempted blackmail and the illegal recording or broadcast of sexual images.
One of the boys threatened to kill the victim if she went to police, according to Le Parisien newspaper, and the girl said she knew at least one of her attackers.
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Protesters hold signs reading “I was raped because I’m Jewish” during a rally to condemn the alleged anti-Semitic gang rape of a 12-year-old girl in Paris, June 19, 2024. (Magali Cohen/Hans Lukas/AFP via Getty Images)
In accordance with French law, prosecutors did not disclose the girl’s religion, but her lawyer and Jewish leader Eli Corchia later said in an interview with French broadcaster BFM that the girl was Jewish and that references to Palestine had been made during the attack. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on Twitter that the girl was “raped because she is Jewish,” calling it an anti-Semitic attack.
Two of the boys are being held pending further investigation, prosecutors said. The third boy was named as a witness in the rape allegations and has been placed in a special education program. Prosecutors said the three boys “expressed remorse to the victim but did not address their involvement.”
Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin described the attack as “horrible” and said police had limited ability to prevent such violence.
At a rally in Paris on June 19, 2024, to condemn the alleged anti-Semitic gang rape of a 12-year-old girl, protesters held up signs reading “Mélenchon, anti-Semitism does not remain.” (Magali Cohen/Hans Lukas/AFP via Getty Images)
“This is a problem for parents, it’s a problem for authorities, it’s a problem for society as a whole,” he told BFM television.
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Hundreds of people gathered in front of Paris’s City Hall on Wednesday evening to protest against anti-Semitism, with many in the crowd holding signs, some with the slogan “Raped because I’m Jewish.”
“The horror knows no bounds. The rape, the anti-Semitism. Everything about this crime committed against a 12-year-old girl in Courbevoie is abhorrent. I think of her and her loved ones. Justice, a school, a republic. There is no other response to barbarism,” Berube wrote to X.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
