Moment heroic bystanders step in to detain 'antisemitic' thug who attacked Rabbi at café in wealthy Paris suburb
Shocking footage has captured the moment heroic bystanders stepped into detain a man who attacked a French Rabbi at a café in a wealthy Paris suburb.
Elie Lummel was sitting at a café in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine on Friday when he sustained a 'really violent blow to the head' with a chair.
'I found myself on the ground,' he said. 'I immediately felt blood flowing and then I saw people running after this person who had attacked me and I congratulated them.
'I congratulated them because it's wonderful to have people who had the courage to ensure that the person was arrested and really, well done.'
Footage posted on X/ Twitter captured the aftermaths of the attack showing three male passersby detaining the suspect and dragging him through the streets of Paris by the scruff of his neck.
In a second clip, a police officer is seen arrested the man after removing his striped outer layer.
'As soon as I heard "arrest him, arrest him", I understood that it was an assault,' Mr Lummel said.
The suspect was held for questioning at the Neuilly-sur-Seine police station and underwent a psychiatric examination that required his hospitalisation, the prosecutor's office in Nanterre said.
According to German-language identity documents found in his possession, the 28-year-old man was born in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
The prosecutor's office in Nanterre confirmed it had opened an investigation into the attack for violence aggravated by the fact that it was committed on religious grounds.
'Yes, well, for me, it's profiling,' Mr Lummel said. 'Here, clearly, it's not a rabbi, it's an identifiable Jew
'Unfortunately, given my beard and my kippah, well, I suspected that was probably why, and it's such a shame.'
This is the second time in two weeks that the French Rabbi has been the victim of an assault.
Mr Lummel revealed he was also attacked in the town of Deauville in Normandy last week when he was punched in the stomach by an unknown assailant.
It comes as five Jewish institutions, including synagogues, a restaurant and the Shoah Memorial, were vandalised with emerald green paint last week.
France has seen a marked rise in hate crimes. Last year, police recorded an 11 per cent rise in racist, xenophobic or antireligious crimes, according to official data published in March. It should be noted that the figures did not include a breakdown by attacks on different religions.
Addressing the rise in hate crimes, Mr Lummel said: 'Listen, I know someone well the other day who found themselves in a café with someone throwing a Mein Kampf in their face.
'I thought, well, people feel they can, not everyone, thank God.
'There's a vast majority of people who are clear in their minds. Even if they don't share the same opinions, they respect each other.
'The problem here is that some don't share the same opinions; that's their right, but we no longer respect each other. And then, on the other hand, it becomes a real problem.'
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on X that he was disgusted by these 'despicable acts targeting the Jewish community'.
Responding to the attack on Mr Lummel, he tweeted: 'I condemn in the strongest terms the anti-Semitic attack that targeted a rabbi in Neuilly today.
'I want to tell our Jewish compatriots that we stand with them.
'The perpetrator, who had no business being in France, must be severely punished and removed.'
Mr Retailleau also acknowledged the 'composure and courage' of the heroic men who made the arrest possible.
'Attacking a person because of their faith is shameful,' he added. 'The increase in anti-religious acts requires everyone's mobilisation.'
'This act sickens us,' former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on X regarding Friday's incident involving Lemmel. 'Thanks to the municipal police officers who were able to immediately arrest the attacker.
'Antisemitism, like all forms of hatred, is a deadly poison for our society.
'We will always fight it,' he added.
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