YOU COULD EASILY HAVE MISSED the two-inch story on an inside page of yesterday's Washington Post about the young mother attacked on a train near Paris, but it dominated the front pages in France. "Train of hate," was the lead headline in the conservative Le Figaro, followed by the subhead, "The cowardice of the anti-Semitic thugs was matched by the cowardice of the passengers on the train."
"Antis'mitism: A French story," read the giant headline filling the first page of the leftist Libération. "Indignation is universal after the gang attack Friday in an RER train near Paris on a young woman and her 13-month old baby in front of passive witnesses."
Even the establishment Le Monde made room for the story on page one above the fold: "Amazement after the anti-Semitic attack on a woman on an RER train."
Stunning as it was, the story was developing some curious holes by the end of Monday. No witnesses had come forward, nor had security cameras helped to identify suspects. Unconfirmed reports on radio and TV said "Marie L." had a history of reporting attacks that no one else saw. Her account was indeed unusual.
Early Friday, Marie L. told the authorities, she boarded a two-deck RER train in a Paris suburb with her baby daughter in a stroller. She chose to remain standing rather than maneuver the stroller up the stairs. Soon six youths of North African Arab or African descent came down the stairs and accosted her. Several had knives. One cut her clothing.
One started fishing through her backpack. He stole 200 euros and found an old identification card that listed an address in the wealthy 16th arrondissement of Paris. One of the assailants said, "In the 16th there are only Jews," and the attack took a racist turn. Three swastikas were drawn on her body in black marker. Someone cut off some of her hair. Finally the train pulled into Aubervilliers station and the assailants ran, capsizing the stroller and knocking the baby to the ground. Only then did a couple approach Marie L. to help.
With echoes of Tawana Brawley now hanging about this particular case, one can draw no conclusion about the facts. Already, though, the story has thrown a spotlight on the steep rise in anti-Semitic crimes in France. According to official statistics, there were more attacks (vandalism, arson, assault, and so on) targeting France's 600,000 Jews in the first half of this year than in all of 2003--135, up from 127 last year. An additional 95 racist attacks targeted all other groups, including some 5 million Muslims. This figure too, has already surpassed the total for last year.
Politicians from President Chirac on down are vowing to punish Marie L.'s assailants to the full extent of the law (assuming they are captured). And it has been announced that this year's Bastille Day presidential pardons will not extend to perpetrators of racist or sexist crimes. More important, the current French government, according to numerous sources, has moved beyond the denial of three years ago and is starting to tackle its anti-Semitism/Muslim violence problem in a sustained way.
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