French police probe filmed harassment of Jewish boy

A video that recently surfaced online of a man asking a young boy wearing a kippah if he would “free Palestine” and telling him “dance, pig” has led to the opening of a criminal investigation, France’s national police said Tuesday.

The video, said to have been taken in June at Charles de Gaulle airport, prompted the Prefecture of Police to announce the probe in a statement on X.

“Outrage at these unacceptable and intolerable remarks. They will not go unpunished. The investigation by the National Police is underway to identify the individual and bring them before justice,” the statement read.

The statement also noted that the police and Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez “support our fellow Jewish citizens and assure them of our full mobilization against antisemitic acts.”

An X user, @SwordOfSalomon, posted the footage, claiming that it had been filmed at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris on June 25.

The video shows a young boy playing a video game. A black man, whose face cannot be seen, comes up to the boy and takes the controller. “Are you gonna free Palestine, bro?,” the man says to the boy in an English accent. “If you don’t free them, I’ll snatch your hat off, bro,” he says, referring to the child’s kippah.

The man also tells the child several times in French, “dance, pig.” The boy is seen briefly dancing.

Yonathan Arfi, the president of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities and organizations, said the incident was “yet another illustration of the climate of antisemitism that has prevailed in Europe” since the 2023 attacks. He said he was struck by “the unbridled, uninhibited nature of the antisemitism,” AFP reported.

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