French Jewish Family Attacked While Singing Hanukkah Songs

A Jewish family in Aubervilliers, France was attacked on December 17 while they were singing Hanukkah songs inside their car.

The Algemeiner reported that four people shouted “F— the Jews!” at the family and then proceeded to shake “the car violently while smashing glass bottles against the body of the vehicle.” The Algemeiner also cited a tweet from French Interior Gerald Darmanin stating that the four people involved in the assault were arrested shortly thereafter.

“They should be punished commensurate with the gravity of these facts,” he wrote.

Liora Rez, director of the Stop Antisemitism.org watchdog, said in a statement to the Journal, “Imagine hating Jews so much that you’re triggered by Hanukkah music and physically attack a family. We’re nauseated at how barbaric some people are and hope all four men are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the French law.”

In January, the French Interior Ministry released statistics showing that anti-Semitic incidents had increased by 27% from 2018 to 2019.