Is the tragic death of a young Jewish man, at first dismissed as an accident, the consequence of antisemiticassault?
Paris - The Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels recalled his conversationwith Minister Darmanin at the annual dinner of the CRIF (Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions) of 24 February. He had raised the danger of antisemitic violence in the publictransport network, in particular in the ‘red ring’ around Paris.
One week earlier, Jérémy Cohen, a Jewish young man, had been inadvertently run over by a tramway. The tragedy had seemingly beendismissed as a nasty accident. A kippa was found next to his body. The events took place in Bobigny, a neighbourhood north of Paris with high unemployment rate,low average income and low scolarization rate.
The truth is that, apparently, only following the canvassing for witnesses by Jérémy’s family, a video taken from an apartmentwindow has become public, in which it is clear that Jérémy - who was reportedly handicapped - had been cornered and physically assaulted by a group of men - one in particular skippinginto the melée to punch him to the ground and then pulled back by a woman.
In the confusion, Jérémy then managed to get back on his feet and run away, crossing the tramway's path in a state ofdistress and confusion... and was killed on impact. The tram driver could do nothing to avoid him!
Jérémy’s family claims that the attack was antisemitic. If so proven, the perpetrators must receive the highest sentence as awarning. Gangs assaulting the Jews, as well as the disabled, is reminiscent of the first days of Nazi terror in the towns of Germany and then throughout occupied Europe.
The enquiry should not become an issue to influence the forthcoming French election, as antisemitism is an evil that must beaddressed by all parties and candidates... Likewise, there is no electoral truce that can keep this matter from being made public and immediately investigated with the full means of the police.The gang members that assaulted Jérémy Cohen must be identified, questioned and brought to face justice.
For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join theCenter on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitterfeed.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizationswith over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the LatinAmerican Parliament (Parlatino).