Palestinian Detained in France after Rabbi Hit with Chair
A Palestinian man was taken into custody after he threw a chair at a rabbi on a cafe terrace in a wealthy Paris suburb, a police source told AFP, in an attack France’s main Jewish association condemned as antisemitic.
According to the source, the suspect attacked Rabbi Elie Lemmel in the western Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine.
Lemmel, who wore a traditional kippah cap and a long beard, was taken to hospital with a head injury.
The assailant was arrested.
The attacker is a Palestinian man residing illegally in Germany, said a source close to the case, adding that the man benefits from a status that offers a form of protection for people who cannot be deported to a conflict zone.
An investigation has been launched into aggravated assault, prosecutors said.
The rabbi said he had been attacked twice in the space of a week. Last Friday he was attacked in the northwestern town of Deauville when three drunk individuals hit him in the stomach.
