Jewish woman stabbed on doorstep in France and swastika sprayed on door

November 05, 2023

A Jewish woman was stabbed on the doorstep of her home in the French city of Lyon before a swastika was found graffitied on her door.

The attacker knocked on the woman's door and stabbed her twice in the stomach, the woman's lawyer, Stephane Drai, told broadcaster BFM.

The woman was being treated in a hospital and her life was not in danger, the lawyer said.

Police would not confirm whether the attack on Saturday was being treated as an antisemitic hate crime.

Officers are still hunting for the suspect.

"Such an act of violence is unthinkable. I offer all my support to the victim and her relatives," Lyon mayor
Gregory Doucet said on X, formerly Twitter.

The woman, who is in her 30s, was alone in her apartment at the time of the attack, according to an anonymous police source who spoke to Le Monde.

She was stabbed twice by a "hooded man" and called her cousin for help, who called the emergency services and found the swastika, the newspaper reported.

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The Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions condemned the "abominable assault" and said it caused great concern for the Jewish community, but said it was up to the courts to determine whether it had been antisemitic.

Police in countries around the world have reported a surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic offences after the Israel-Hamas war.

In London, there was a 1,353% increase in antisemitic offences and a 140% rise in Islamophobic offences between 1 and 18 October, the Metropolitan Police reported.

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