Family of French Jewish man killed by tram says antisemitism played a role in his death

The family of a French Jewish man who was fatally wounded after being hit by a tram has said that antisemitism may have played a role in the incident. 

While Mr Jeremy Cohen’s death in February was initially treated as a traffic accident, new video footage released by the family appears to show a gang of men attacking Mr Cohen, 31, prompting him to flee for safety without noticing the tram. 

Mr Cohen is believed to have been wearing his kippah, or skullcap, during the attack, and the family have now called upon the police to reopen the investigation into his death as they feel his visible Jewish identity played a role in his attackers’ motivation.

It was reportedly only when the family started asking questions, handing out fliers in post boxes throughout the neighbourhood and urging witnesses to come forward, that someone eventually came forward with the crucial video footage that showed that the victim was being attacked moments before his death.

The victim’s father, Gerald Cohen, said: “Why is the family the one who needs to bring the evidence to police investigators? If we hadn’t done that we wouldn’t have known the truth. We want justice for our son Jeremy.”

The footage of Mr Cohen was released to the public this past Monday, which was also the anniversary of the murder of Sarah Halimi, a 74-year-old Jewish woman living in Paris who was murdered in 2017 by her twenty-seven-year-old Muslim neighbour, Kobili Traoré. Mr Traoré tortured Ms Halimi before throwing her out of a window, yelling “Allah Akbar,” “I killed the shaitan,” which is an Arabic word for ‘devil’ or ‘demon’, along with antisemitic vitriol.

In a disgraceful decision last year, France’s Court of Cassation ruled that Ms Halimi’s killer could not stand trial due to being high on cannabis whilst committing the murder.

Last year, Campaign Against Antisemitism held a rally outside of the French Embassy in solidarity with French Jews opposing the Court of Cassation’s unjust ruling, joining simultaneous rallies around the world.

The speeches can be watched in full on our YouTube channel.

A few months later, it was announced ​​that a French Parliamentary commission of inquiry would be established in order to investigate the murder of Sarah Halimi. However, in January of this year, the inquiry was closed. The results of the 67,000 word report found that police had arrived on the scene before Ms Halimi was killed but waited outside of her apartment during the entire incident, apparently unable to hear her screams. The report shockingly concluded that the officers, judges and psychiatrists involved in the case had done everything by the book.

This led to a disagreement between those on the committee itself, with the report only being passed on a seven to five vote, with Meyer Habib, the French Parliamentarian who formed the commission, accusing police and fellow lawmakers of lying and engaging in a cover-up. 

In February, a report by France’s Jewish Community Security Service said that antisemitic incidents in France had skyrocketed by 75% in 2021.

Last year, the murderer of French Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll was sentenced to life in prison.

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