02-May-15: On a Paris street with some history, a mob of 40 'activists' attacks a pair of young Jews

Boulevard Voltaire, Paris, January 10, 2015: Four months
before Friday's racist attack on two Jews, international leaders march
in solidarity with victims of Islamist acts of murder in Paris.
Lessons plainly not yet learned [Image Source]

Ilan Halimi is the name of a French Jew who, at the age of 23 in 2006 was kidnapped on a Parisian street, then held hostage ("The Barbarians Affair") at a house in the Bagneux neighbourhood and horribly tortured for three full weeks while ransom demands were made on his parents. He was eventually released in shocking condition ("more than 80% of his body had been burned with acid, as well as gasoline") and rushed to hospital but died before getting there.

The street on which Ilan Halimi was abducted is Boulevard Voltaire, in Paris' 11 arrondissement. A French news report [here] says two young Jews were assaulted there yesterday (Friday) afternoon around 2:30 pm and injured. The attackers were... a mob of 40 people.

It's the same street that played a central role in the events described in this report from less than four months ago:

An extraordinary chain of 1.5 million people, led by a group of world leaders linking arms, marched down the Boulevard Voltaire in a show of force Sunday meant to illustrate the power of unity and freedom of expression over the sting of fanaticism and terror. After a barrage of violence that traumatized the nation and left 17 victims dead, the boulevards of Paris produced a striking counterimage: French President François Hollande, arm in arm with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and a host of European and African leaders. An estimated 4 million people nationwide — more than a third of them in Paris — mobilized [etc] ..."Paris is the capital of the world today," Hollande said. ["Massive crowds join march for solidarity in Paris" | Washington Post, January 11, 2015]

According to a French group that monitors anti-semitic attacks in France, Friday's attack mob was made up of individuals belonging to the Israel-hating BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) campaign and a second group called Gaza Firm. Police are investigating.

The writing has long been on France's walls. The question is who is reading.