The circumstances of the death of Jeremy Cohen, a 31-year-old French Jew who died after being hit by a tram while running away from a mob of attackers, have become a hot-button issue in the final stretch of the presidential race in France.
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Cohen, an observant Jew who wears a kippah, was attacked in February by a group of Muslim immigrants in the town of Bobigny, near Paris. He reportedly did not notice the incoming tram when trying to escape his attackers. Cohen was evacuated to a nearby hospital in critical condition and succumbed to his wounds shortly after.
The police originally deemed his death an accident, but footage of the assault that emerged later suggests it might have been the result of an antisemitic attack. The footage was obtained by Cohen's brother, Rafael, who launched a private investigation into the matter. In the wake of the video, Jewish and right-wing media outlets in France accused the police and authorities of trying to downplay the affair. Evidence gathered by the Cohen family has prompted law enforcement to launch another investigation.
The Jewish presidential candidate Éric Zemmour, who has campaigned on the need to address violence by Arab and Muslim immigrants, tweeted, "Why is it that no media outlet, politician, or parliament member speak about the death of Jeremy Cohen?"
Marine le Pen, far-right presidential candidate and head of the National Rally party, tweeted, "What was presented as an accident could be an antisemitic murder."
French Jewish lawmaker Meyer Habib, a member of the lower house of parliament National assembly, called the incident "heartbreaking" and said he had urged France Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin to address the matter immediately.
Darmanin "has promised me that the authorities are taking this case very seriously and that it is under the examination of the Justice Ministry," Habib said, adding that "with only a week remaining until the first round of the presidential election, it seems like a new case of covert antisemitism is gaining momentum."
Habib also pointed out that Cohen's death occurred around the anniversary of the murder of French Jewish teacher Sarah Halimi, who was beaten and thrown to death off her balcony by a Muslim neighbor in 2017, while the police, who were nearby, did not act to save her. Halimi's alleged killer, Kobili Traoré was never prosecuted as the court ruled he had suffered a psychotic episode during the attack caused by cannabis use.
The murder took place shortly before the presidential election runoff between Emanuel Macron and Le Pen. Many in the French Jewish community said the attack was kept quiet so as not to increase Le Pen's chances of winning.
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