A teenager accused or assaulting a rabbi in full daylight in a case that surprised France went to trial on Wednesday, April 23 in the central city of Orléans. The attack against the Rabbi of Orléans, Arié Engelberg, took place while walking with his 9 -year -old son from a synagogue on a Saturday afternoon last month in the city, about 110 kilometers south of Paris.
After his judgment, the suspect told the researchers at the beginning that he was Palestinian, and there he was Moroccan and 16 years. According to his lawyer, the young man arrived a year ago in France, where he has no family. It is aggression or “assault with a real or imagined religious motive” in the rabbi, as well as “psychological violence” against the Rabbi’s son. He has denied charges, according to prosecutors.
He has also been accused of illegal possession or narcotics after being found with two grams of cannabis resin, in addition to refusing to undergo police evidence to establish his identity. The suspect had already been under investigation in relation to three other cases related to drug trafficking, violence against officials and aggravated robbery.
Engelberg told BFM Television shortly after the incident that his attacker asked him if he was Jewish. “I said yes,” said Engelberg. “He began to say ‘All Jews are children of …” he continued, and added that the teenager wanted to film him with his phone while throwing insults. “I decided to act and moved his phone away,” said the rabbi. His attacker then “started hitting and protected.”
When he arrived at the Court on Wednesday, Engelberg said the “strong responses” of the Judiciary were necessary in cases like these. “In a democracy like France, you have no right not to be attacked,” he said. Two days after the assault, more than 1,000 people marched in Orléans in support of the rabbi.
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