The French National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism (BNCVA) on Sunday condemned a vicious attack last Thursday against a Jewish family in a Paris suburb, calling it “manifestly anti-Semitic” and “premeditated.”
The son and daughter-in-law of 78-year-old Roger Pinto, the very prominent president of the Siona group representing Sephardic Jews, were home Thursday night in the Livry-Gargan area when three intruders cut through the window bars protecting the building.
The attackers, described as black men ages 20s to 30s, cut off the power to the house, tied up the younger Pinto and beat up his wife before his eyes. It was only towards morning when the elder Pinto quietly managed to reach police, prompting the attackers to quickly leave. The family was taken to the hospital where their injuries were treated. But their trauma went far deeper, according to a report by the BNVCA, which said they were threatened with death and “violently beaten.”
Francis Kalifat, president of the CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France) also condemned the attack, calling it “proof, as if any were needed, that Jews in France are especially threatened in the streets and – even more disturbingly – in their homes…
“After the atrocious murder of Sarah Halimi in her home, this new aggression must compel authorities in our country to be more vigilant,” Kalifat added.
Halimi, 65, was murdered earlier this year by her Muslim neighbor in Paris. He has not been charged and the incident was not considered a hate crime; he is being examined for mental illness.
French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb acknowledged initial findings made clear “the motivation for this cowardly act seems directly related to the religion of the victims.” Everything will be done, he said in a statement, “to identify and arrest” the perpetrators.