Jews in Paris prevent antisemitic knife attack

Jewish residents in Paris chased and apprehended a man whom they suspected of trying to stab three Jews. The man was then handed over to the police.

The incident took place on the evening of 31st March near a synagogue in Sarcelles, a suburb in northern Paris with a large Sephardic Jewish community.

Witnesses say that the man, a 35-year-old from Pakistan, approached three Jewish men, all wearing kippot and therefore visibly Jewish, from behind while carrying a large knife. 

Residents caused a commotion in order to alert the Jewish men who all escaped unharmed. The man was then chased and apprehended.

This is only the most recent antisemitic incident which has taken place in France.

On 29th December, a Jewish cemetery near Strasbourg was desecrated with swastikas and antisemitic slogans.

On 17th December, four men were arrested after they attacked a Jewish family for listening to Hebrew songs in their car. The attack took place in Aubervilliers, less than a 45-minute drive away from the Sarcelles incident.

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