Jewish boy beaten at Paris Ozar Hatorah school as anti-Semitic taunts chanted
At the end of a march by people from all faiths on Sunday, a woman lays a white rose in front of the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in the southwestern city of Toulouse, where three children and one teacher were killed last week by self-proclaimed Islamist Mohamed Merah.
A Jewish boy at a Paris school was beaten today by youths who taunted him with anti-Semitic chants, according to The Associated Press. The boy, 12, did not suffer physical injury.
The beating occurred as emotions are running high in France after the murders of three Jewish children by an Islamic extremist in Toulouse who also killed four others and wounded another four.
More from GlobalPost: Al Jazeera: Toulouse shooting video will not be aired
Both the shootings and the beating occurred at schools in the Ozar Hatorah network of Jewish day schools, according to the news agency.
Meanwhile, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported, that the father of the gunman Mohamed Merah intended to sue the French government for having killed his son.
Merah was killed last week at the end of a 32-hour siege by police.
“I will hire the greatest lawyers and work the rest of my life to pay their fees,” Mohamed Benalei Merah was quoted as saying. “France is a large country which had the means to arrest my son alive. The could have knocked him out with gas arrested him. They preferred to kill him.”
Mohamed Benalei Merah lives in Algeria, 210 miles west of the capital, Algiers.
The boy was punched in the back of his head as he left the school in Southeast Paris, the AP said, citing Katia Normal, the schools head of human resources. The attackers were two boys a few years older than the victim.
More from GlobalPost: Tough times for Australian billionaires
President Nicolas Sarkozy last week ordered an increase in security at Jewish and Muslim schools and houses of worship but today’s event happened 100 meters from the school entrance, out of view of the police guard, according to the AP.
The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?