Jewish teens sprayed with tear gas in Paris suburb

Marcy Oster

(JTA) — Two Jewish teenagers reported that they were sprayed with tear gas in an attack in Sarcelles, a northern suburb of Paris.

The teens, who were wearing kippot, said they were attacked on Saturday night, according to a report posted Monday on the website of the National Bureau of Vigilance against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA.

The attack, which was captured by a nearby security system, reportedly was perpetrated by a group of youths ages eight to 17, of “North African origin,” according to the BNVCA.

The attack comes less than a week after two Jewish teenagers told police they were chased on Shavuot eve by a hatchet-wielding man and three others in Romainville, a northeastern suburb of Paris.

Last month, BNVCA and SPCJ, the watchdog of France’s Jewish communities, documented two suspected anti-Semitic beatings of Jews in the Paris suburb of Creteil. Also last month, police received a report about three men who were filming the entrance to the local Jewish school of Creteil, Otzar Hatora.