French Jewish leader Roger Pinto (L) gives a press conference in 2006 with relatives of Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah. Image by AFP/Getty Images

(JTA) — The family of a French Jewish leader was assaulted in their home near Paris in what representatives of French Jewry said was an anti-Semitic attack.

In the assault Thursday night, three men, two of whom were wearing masks, broke into the home of Roger Pinto, the president of the Siona group representing Sephardic Jews. The attackers beat his son and wife in the domicile in the northeastern suburb of Livry Gargan, the Dreuz news website reported Sunday.

One of the perpetrators, black men in their 20s or 30s, according to the victims’ description, told the family: “You Jews have money,” suggesting the possibility that the men had targeted the family because they are Jewish. The robbers took the family’s credit cards and jewelry and interrogated them for hours on additional goods they could steal, threatening to kill them, according to the family’s complaint to police. The men ran away after Roger Pinto managed to discretely call rescue services on a mobile phone.

Antisemitism Notebook

Your weekly guide through the news and the noise of how rising antisemitism and disputes over how to address it are shaping American Jewish life.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The Pintos were taken to hospital for treatment. They suffered some minor injuries but were deeply traumatized, the report said.

The incident, one of several cases in France in recent years in which criminals singled out Jews out of the apparent belief that they have money, provoked passionate condemnations from the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities, and the National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism. Both groups said the incident was an anti-Semitic attack.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount