Macron condemns ‘scourge of anti-Semitism’ after Jewish girl, 12, is ‘gang-raped by boys who accused her of hiding her religion from her boyfriend’ as three youths are charged in case that has shocked France

The shocking rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in an abandoned hangar in a Paris suburb has sparked fury in France as President Emmanuel Macron condemned the ‘scourge of anti-Semitism’ threatening French schools.

The girl from Courbevoie, in the Hauts-de-Seine suburb northwest of the French capital, told police on Monday that she had been raped at the weekend by three youths – one of whom she said was her ex-boyfriend. 

Investigators heard how the gang grabbed her while she was sitting in Courbevoie’s Henri Regnault square with her boyfriend and dragged her to a derelict warehouse in the nearby La Defense district to carry out the attack.

A police source said the youths forced her into sex acts ‘while uttering death threats and anti-Semitic remarks’ amid the heinous attack – as the ex-boyfriend reportedly accused the victim of ‘hiding her Jewish religion’ from him.

Two of the suspects, both 13, were charged last night with gang rape, anti-Semitic insults and violence and issuing death threats, and held in custody.

The third boy, 12, was also charged with anti-Semitic insults and violence and issuing death threats, but not with rape. He was allowed to return home after being charged. 

Police set out to detain the attackers after a gynaecological examination at a local hospital on Monday confirmed the girl had been raped. 

The boys appeared in front of a judge yesterday afternoon and reportedly admitted to the crimes after the victim’s boyfriend was able to identify two of them. 

The girl’s former boyfriend told police that he was angry she hid being Jewish from him and wanted revenge, according to Le Parisien.

An investigating source said: ‘The girl went out with her parents’ permission on Saturday at 3pm to meet her current boyfriend.

‘She was approached by two teenagers and dragged by force into a shed connected to a disused nursery, as she was returning home through a park near her parents’ house in a tower block in La Defense.

‘A third minor then joined them, and insulted the young girl about her religion, calling her a dirty Jew.’

According to the girl’s initial witness statement, she was beaten, thrown to the ground, and photographed using mobile phones.

The boys allegedly said they would use the images to blackmail her, before saying they would burn her, while placing a lighter by her face.

Various sex acts were then performed on the girl, and she was told she ‘would be killed’ if she spoke to police.

One of the attackers is said to have asked the girl to return the next day to give him 200 euros – about £170 – as part of a blackmail plot.

Investigators allegedly found anti-Semitic comments and images, including that of a burned Israeli flag, on the boy’s phone.

One of his friends reportedly told police that he had hit the girl because she said bad things about Palestine. 

According to further reports in the French media, the boys all come from the neighbouring suburb of Rueil-Malmaison. 

President Emmanuel Macron condemned the ‘scourge of anti-Semitism’ threatening French schools

France, which is home to Europe’s largest Muslim community, experienced a surge in anti-Semitic acts since Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel that prompted a brutal retaliatory campaign by Israel in Gaza. 

The leaders of France’s Jewish community – the largest of any country outside Israel and the United States – expressed horror over the attack as Macron told parliament that more must be done to combat anti-Semitism in schools. 

Macron ‘spoke solemnly and seriously about the ‘scourge of anti-Semitism’ in a cabinet meeting, calling for ‘dialogue’ about racism and hatred of Jews in schools to prevent ‘hateful speech with serious consequences’ from ‘infiltrating’ classrooms, a government source told AFP. 

Meanwhile, France’s chief rabbi Haim Korsia wrote on X that he was ‘horrified’ and that ‘no-one should be excused in the face of this unprecedented wave of anti-Semitism’.

Courbevoie’s centre-right mayor Jacques Kossowski condemned what he called ‘an abject act’ and called for the perpetrators to be met with the full force of the law ‘whatever their age.’

Anti-Semitic acts in France increased three-fold in the first months of 2024, compared to the same period a year ago, official figures show.

Of the 1,676 anti-Semitic acts recorded in 2023, 12.7 per cent took place in schools.