A French Jew was attacked in an antisemitic street attack in Villeurbanne on Friday, according to the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Prefecture and local politicians, the third antisemitic attack in the Lyon area commune in just over a month.
A man wearing a Star of David pendant necklace was allegedly attacked by two men on Friday, Le Progress reported, with one man filing and another striking the victim on the head while calling him a "dirty Jew" and "dirty fascist."
Condemning the attack
The prefecture assured on social media that the attack was being investigated by the National Police, and Prefect Fabienne Buccio said that she was determined to fight antisemitic incidents and would not let the perpetrators go unpunished.
Villeurbanne mayor Cédric Van Styvendael decried the antisemitic assault in a Saturday Facebook post, promising to do everything to fight against "all forms of violence."
"I hope that full light will be shed on this, that the perpetrators will be identified, arrested, and brought to justice without delay," said Van Styvendael. "Impunity is not an option."
La France Insoumise National Assembly member for Rhone Gabriel Amard condemned the Tonkin street attack on X, and called for the swift identification and prosecution of the attackers.
"Hate has no place in our city," Amard said on X. "Let's not let hate speech divide us."
Former Villeurbanne mayor and former Socialist Party MP Jean-Paul Bret said that repeated incidents in the city required more than just outrage. On Instagram on Sunday, Bret called for a special city council meeting on the issue and for the dissemination of information against antisemitism on public transportation.
Le Progres reported that on March 17 a 46-year-old woman on her way to a Hebrew class was called a "dirty Jew" by a black veiled woman, before being pushed up against a wall, stuck, spat on, and threatened that her throat would be slit if the attacker ever spotted her again. The outlet also reported the violent March 8 attack on a Jewish man that left him with multiple fractures.
