French Jewish woman stabbed in her home, has swastika painted on door in antisemitic attack: authorities
A woman was stabbed in her home Saturday in France’s third largest city, in what authorities called an antisemitic attack, according to reports.
The woman, who suffered two stab wounds to the abdomen, also had a swastika painted on her door in Lyon, in the east-central part of the country, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The attack occurred in the afternoon when an individual dressed in dark clothing and with his face concealed knocked on the victim’s door, according to French media.
She was assaulted soon after she came to the door, and later rushed to a hospital emergency room, according to Le Figaro.
The victim had a mezuzah — a traditional Jewish symbol — on her door, leading the prosecutor’s office to suggest there was an “antisemitic motive” in the crime, according to reports.
Lyon’s mayor Gregory Doucet condemned the violence on social media.
A lawyer for the victim said he would lodge a complaint for “attempted homicide.”
The stabbing occurred against a backdrop of growing antisemitism in France, weeks after the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel by Hamas terrorists. The hashtag #JeSuisJuif, or “I am Jewish,” has emerged on social media, calling for an end to antisemitism in the country, the Jerusalem Post reported.
More than 800 antisemitic acts have been reported in France since the massacre, nearly double the total for all of 2022, according to the latest report confirmed on Monday by French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.