France reels as two boys charged with raping Jewish girl ‘in antisemitic attack'

The alleged rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a suspected antisemitic attack has sent shockwaves throughout France, and thrust concerns about antisemitism to the forefront of campaigning for the country’s legislative elections.

- OLEG CETINIC, ELISE MORTON

The anti-immigration National Rally party, which has tried to shed historical links to antisemitism, is leading in pre-election polling and has its first real chance of forming a government if it comes out on top of the two-round elections that end on 7 July.

It would be the first far-right force to lead a French government since the Nazi occupation. Far-left figures, meanwhile, have faced accusations of antisemitism linked to their response to Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel and the ensuing war.

Concerns came to the fore after two adolescent boys in a Paris suburb were charged this week with raping a 12-year-old girl and religiously-motivated violence, according to prosecutors. Lawyer and Jewish leader Elie Korchia told French broadcaster BFM that the girl is Jewish and that the word “Palestine” was mentioned during the attack.