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Paris Metro Passengers Stop Harassment of Jewish Man

[additional-authors]
February 4, 2020
Photo from Pixabay.

Multiple passengers on a Paris metro train reportedly intervened to stop four men from harassing a Jewish man on Feb. 1.

Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported that the four men, who were identified as Arab and in the 30- to 40-year-old range, asked the 25-year-old Jewish man, who was wearing a yarmulke, for a cigarette. The Jewish man said he didn’t have any. Then one of the Arab men allegedly pushed him against a train car wall and said, “You Jews have enough money to buy some.”

The four men then tried to corner the Jewish man, JTA reported, but several passengers stepped between the four men and the Jewish man. The Jewish man was able to escape the situation.

The National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism said in a Feb. 3 statement, “The victim was spared thanks to passengers who blocked the entry of these individuals into the subway train, and delivered him from the hands of the attacker who had pressed him against the wall. Again the old cliché of the Jew and money poisons certain mentalities.”

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt similarly tweeted, “Passengers on a Paris metro stopped 4 men from harassing a visibly Jewish man. This is a great example of people deciding to take action against #hate. We’re grateful they made the right decision not to sit idly by.”

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