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Outrage after attacks
A mother has had swastikas daubed on her stomach and her hair cut off by racist robbers in France. The attack has sparked outrage from politicians and religious leaders, with President Jacques Chirac expressing a sense of "dread". The woman, who is not Jewish, was attacked on a suburban Paris commuter train at 9.30am on Friday. She was with her 13-month-old son. The six robbers, all believed to be 15 to 20-years-old, threatened her with knives and grabbed her backpack and money. When they discovered she came from the the well-to-do 16th district of Paris, they insisted she must be Jewish and cut her hair "to keep a souvenir". They then opened her shirt and drew swastikas on her belly with a marker pen. Her son fell out of his stroller but neither her nor his mother was seriously injured. Sylvanian Zenouda, of the International League Against Racism, said: "To be Jewish today in France has become an aggravating circumstance." Commuters who saw the attack on the busy train are being urged to speak to the police. Hate crimes in France have been rising sharply during the past year with 135 anti-Jewish acts in the past month and 375 threats. Posted by: Korora 2004-07-12 |
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