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Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
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.
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 days ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Palestinian Detained in France after Rabbi Hit with Chair
A Palestinian man was taken into custody after he threw a chair at a rabbi on a cafe terrace in a wealthy Paris suburb, a police source told AFP, in an attack France's main Jewish association condemned as antisemitic. According to the source, the suspect attacked Rabbi Elie Lemmel in the western Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Lemmel, who wore a traditional kippah cap and a long beard, was taken to hospital with a head injury. The assailant was arrested. The attacker is a Palestinian man residing illegally in Germany, said a source close to the case, adding that the man benefits from a status that offers a form of protection for people who cannot be deported to a conflict zone. An investigation has been launched into aggravated assault, prosecutors said. The rabbi said he had been attacked twice in the space of a week. Last Friday he was attacked in the northwestern town of Deauville when three drunk individuals hit him in the stomach. On Friday, the rabbi was talking to a person he had arranged to meet when he was attacked, receiving "a huge blow to the head". "I fell to the ground and heard people shouting 'stop him', and I realized that I had just been attacked," he told broadcaster BFMTV. "I am very afraid that we are living in a world where words are generating more and more evil," he said. The French Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, has faced a number of attacks and desecrations of memorials since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023. In January, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) deplored what it called a "historic" level of antisemitic acts. - 'Clashes fueled by hatred' - While welcoming the fact that attack was not fatal, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou deplored "the radicalization of public debate." "Day after day, our country is plagued by clashes fueled by hatred," he told reporters, also pointing to assaults against "our Muslim compatriots". The CRIF condemned "in the strongest possible terms the anti-Semitic attack on the rabbi". "In a general context where hatred of Israel fuels the stigmatization of Jews on a daily basis, this attack is yet another illustration of the toxic climate targeting French Jews," the CRIF said on X. Yonathan Arfi, the CRIF president, said: "Nothing, not even solidarity with the Palestinians, can ever justify attacking a rabbi." France's Holocaust memorial, three Paris synagogues and a restaurant were vandalized with paint last week. A judge has charged three Serbs with vandalizing the Jewish sites "to serve the interests of a foreign power", a judicial source said on Friday. In 2024, a total of 1,570 antisemitic acts were recorded in France, according to the interior ministry. Officials say the number of such crimes has increased in the wake of the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 by Palestinian group Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people. The attack was followed by relentless Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which the Hamas-run health ministry has said resulted in the deaths of at least 54,677 people, and an aid blockade.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Palestinian under psychiatric evaluation after hitting rabbi in France
PARIS: A Palestinian man arrested on Friday for throwing a chair at a rabbi in a Paris suburban cafe has been sent to hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, French authorities said. The reason for the attack was unknown, but France's main Jewish association condemned it as an antisemitic assault, and French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou blamed a 'radicalization of public debate' against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza. The rabbi, Elie Lemmel, suffered a gash to his head from the chair that hit him as he was speaking with a companion in the cafe in the wealthy western Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. The local prosecutors' office said that it had opened a criminal investigation for assault possibly aggravated by religious motives. It said the Palestinian, an irregular migrant living with temporary papers in Germany, was thought to be 28 years old and born in the Gaza city of Rafah. It added that 'he is undergoing a psychiatric examination requiring his forced hospitalization.' France's hard-line interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said on X that the Palestinian 'had no reason to be in France' and should be 'severely punished and deported.' The French Jewish association CRIF said on X that 'this attack is yet another illustration of the toxic climate targeting French Jews.' The French Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, has faced a number of attacks and desecrations of memorials since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023. French authorities are alert to antisemitic attacks, reports of which have been on the rise as the war in Gaza grinds on. That conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023 when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked parts of Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,218 people. Israel retaliated with relentless bombardments and an aid blockade of the Gaza Strip. The ongoing military operation has resulted in the deaths of at least 54,677 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
French rabbi tells of two attacks in one week as hate crimes rise
PARIS, June 6 (Reuters) - A French rabbi was attacked on Friday for the second time in a week, he told Reuters, reflecting a broad rise in hate crimes across France that has included high-profile anti-Semitic assaults. Elie Lemmel said he was sitting at a cafe in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine on Friday when he was hit in the head by a chair. "I found myself on the ground, I immediately felt blood flowing," he said. He was stunned and unsure what exactly had happened, he said, initially thinking something must have fallen from a window or roof, before it occurred to him he had been attacked. "Unfortunately, given my beard and my kippah, I suspected that was probably why, and it's such a shame," he said. Friday's incident follows another in the town of Deauville in Normandy last week, when Lemmel said he was punched in the stomach by an unknown assailant. Lemmel said he was used to "not-so-friendly looks, some unpleasant words, people passing by, spitting on the ground," but had never been physically assaulted before the two attacks. The prosecutor's office in Nanterre said it had opened an investigation into the Neuilly attack for aggravated violence and that a person was being held for questioning. It said it could not provide further details. "This act sickens us," former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on X regarding Friday's incident involving Lemmel. "Antisemitism, like all forms of hatred, is a deadly poison for our society." Last week, five Jewish institutions were sprayed with green paint in Paris. "I condemn in the strongest possible terms the anti-Semitic attack that targeted a rabbi in Neuilly today. Attacking a person because of their faith is a shame. The increase in anti-religious acts requires the mobilization of everyone," Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said in a post on X. France has seen a rise in hate crimes. Last year, police recorded an 11% rise in racist, xenophobic or antireligious crimes, according to official data published in March. The figures did not include a breakdown by attacks on different religions.
