Eight days after four Jews were murdered in the Otzar Hatorah school in Toulouse, hatred-based violence has hit France again, this time in Paris.
Channel 2 News reported on Tuesday that a student from the Otzar Hatorah campus in the French capital was lightly injured in an attack by anti-Semites.
The report, which cited local authorities in Paris, said the 12-year-old boy fell victim to violence by a group of unknown assailants who ambushed him outside the school and called out anti-Semitic slurs.
The attackers were able to carry out their plan in spite of the increased security around Jewish schools and synagogues in France, following last week’s attack.
The President of the Otzar Hatorah network of schools, Jean-Paul Amoyal, was quoted by Channel 2 as having told news agencies that the student was attacked only 100 meters from the entrance to the school, in an area that was not guarded.
Amoyal added that no suspects have yet been arrested and that their identity is not known.
The latest attack comes a day after French authorities formally launched an investigation into the brother of the Toulouse terrorist, Mohammed Merah, believing he may have been an accessory to the murders.
Abdelkader Merah, the murderer’s older brother, is suspected of assisting Mohammed in preparing his attacks. The 29-year-old Abdelkader Merah has allegedly told police that he is “very proud” of his brother for murdering his victims. “I regret nothing for him and approve of what he did,” Abdelkader reportedly told investigators.
Earlier on Monday, intelligence officials confirmed reports that Mohammed Merah spent time in Israel over a year and a half ago.
According to the Shin Bet, Merah entered Israel via the Allenby Bridge from Jordan in September 2010. He was investigated by the Shin Bet – who did not unearth any suspicious information – and he was allowed to enter the country.
Merah’s father said on Monday he planned to sue France over his son’s death, saying, “France is a big country that had the means to take my son alive. They could have knocked him out with gas and taken him in. They preferred to kill him.”
