Youths Kidnap and Torture Jewish Teen

(Suburban Paris, France) On February 22, French youths attacked and kidnapped 19-year-old Mathieu Roumi while the Jewish teen was walking through his neighborhood in Bagneux, a suburb of Paris.

Bagneux is noted as the site of the brutal murder of storekeeper Ilan Halimi in 2006 by a gang of youths who called themselves the "Barbarians."

Roumi was beaten and dragged into a dark basement.

For two hours the attackers tortured the young man. One shoved cigarette butts into his mouth, another took issue with Roumi's Jewish origin, grabbed correction fluid and scrawled "dirty Jew" on his forehead. The six men proceeded to scream at him and threaten that he would die the way Halimi did. [ ... ]

"We admire Youssouf Fofana!" they shouted at him, referring to the leader of the gang that murdered Halimi. Fofana and 29 other suspects are on trial for abduction, torture and murder. If convicted, they can expect a life sentence.

Roumi's life was spared because one of the assailants, who owned the basement space, had to leave and take the key with him. Roumi was set free and returned home, battered and broken. When he got to his parent's home, they sent him immediately for a medical examination.

The next day Roumi went to the police. In a matter of hours, the six assailants were arrested. Most are in their 20s, two come from Muslim homes, two are "fully" French, and another two are African and Portuguese immigrants.

With brutal and sometimes deadly attacks occurring in mixed immigrant neighborhoods, French Jews live in a perpetual state of fear. Virulent anti-Semitism is a fact of life in France.

Tip: Woman Honor Thyself