French Muslim teenagers charged with antisemitic rape of Jewish girl

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The trial of three French Muslim teenagers charged with the antisemitic gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl began in juvenile court in Nanterre.

Two boys aged 13 and 14 are charged with gang rape, sexual assault, violence, extortion, death threats, and insults, as well as capturing, recording, or transmitting intimate images.

These are also aggravated charges on account of the girl’s Jewishness, meaning the two could face up to 10 years in prison. The third teen is charged with complicity and other offenses, including sexual assault, violence, and death threats.

The trial, which began on Wednesday, is set to last three days and take place behind closed doors.

The incident in question took place in Courbevoie on June 15, 2024.

People attend a demonstration against anti-Semitism at the Place de la Bastille after three teenagers aged 12 to 13 were indicted in Courbevoie, accused of rape and anti-Semitic violence against a 12-year-old girl, in Paris, France, June 20, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Johanna Geron)

Before the assault, one of the boys had met the girl during a sporting activity, and they had begun a relationship. The girl reported having made him believe she was Muslim to “protect herself.”

The boy, however, ended the relationship after discovering she was Jewish. He then dropped out of school and converted to Islam in March 2024, just months before the attack.

The assault was reportedly motivated by vengeance after the victim hid her Jewish identity from the boy.

On the day of the attack, the girl was on her way home when she was ambushed. She was forced to perform penetrative and oral sex on two of the boys under threat of death. Her ex-boyfriend also threatened to burn her cheek while holding a lighter near her face and tried to make her sit on her handbag, which he had set on fire.

The victim’s mother told Le Parisien at the time that one of her daughter’s attackers told her, “I know you’re not Muslim... So, what religion are you?”

They then called the girl a “dirty Jew,” she told authorities at the time.

Following the gang rape, which was filmed, the three asked the girl to convert to Islam, her parents told the French paper. “Before letting her leave, they made her swear on Allah not to say anything and that she should not tell anyone, neither her parents nor the police,” her mother added.

According to French media, investigators found antisemitic remarks and images in the ex-boyfriend’s phone.The girl’s father told Le Parisien later in June 2024 that the “shock caused her to have flashbacks at night. She has difficulty falling asleep and wakes up at night. It’s a pretty painful daily life.”

“Her attackers stole her childhood.”

Not her first antisemitic attack

Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that the assault was not the first antisemitic attack the girl had been subjected to since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Her mother told French media, “After October 7, our daughter suffered harassment at her school and was ostracized because of her religion. It started during the month of November with Nazi salutes, swastikas on tables at school, and jokes about the Holocaust. She lost several Muslim friends this way without it leading to physical violence.”

The girl’s lawyer, Oudy Bloch, released a statement this week praising her client for having the “courage” to report the incident so quickly, which allowed the police to act immediately.

She also praised the police and the prosecutor’s office for their diligence.

“In France, as everyone knows, there has been an explosion of antisemitic acts,” Bloch added. “Our very young client had suffered antisemitic harassment at school for a year before her attack. And she wants the antisemitic nature of the situation to be truly taken into account and for the government to act. To act for the Jews of France, to act for the national community.”

The victim’s other lawyer, Muriel Ouaknine-Melki, told Le Parisien on Wednesday that the girl intends to attend the trial for all three days.

“Very difficult moments are to be expected, particularly when one of the videos filmed by the accused, showing her in a situation of absolute distress and vulnerability, is broadcast,” she said.

“But she is preparing for it and is once again demonstrating remarkable strength of character during this ordeal.”

Bloch told the French daily that the legal teams of the boys likely intend to draw on their home situations as a means of defense. The three attackers come from dysfunctional families with fathers who are both absent and violent, she added.

Additionally, the lawyers added that the ex-boyfriend himself is not charged with gang rape but complicity, as he did not intervene to help her. He told the investigating judge that he had never imagined she would be raped.

As he was 12 at the time of the attack, he was below the French threshold for criminal responsibility and will not face time in prison.