Hunt for man who stabbed Jewish woman in Lyon, Swedish Jews anxious

Swastika graffitied at home of woman who was stabbed; Swedish Jews fear for children’s safety, while US students review college choice after Cornell, Columbia incidents.

Police were hunting for a man who stabbed and wounded a Jewish woman in the French city of Lyon on Saturday, while a swastika was found graffitied at her home, police and the city's mayor said. The victim's door had a mezuzah, identifying the inhabitants as Jewish.

The 30-year-old woman was stabbed several times in the abdomen and taken to hospital. Her injuries are reported to be not life-threatening.

Sweden's Jewish community has been in a state of anxiety since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 and the start of Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip. Swedish Jews fear for their safety, and it seems the authorities aren’t grasping the urgency of the situation.

A stark example occurred at the Hillel Jewish School in downtown Stockholm on October 13. Threats by Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal to spark an international “day of rage” circulated through social media.

Parents, many of them in mourning and worried about family and friends in Israel, wrote in private WhatsApp groups that the school’s regular security was inadequate. Some volunteered to watch the surroundings outside the school, and the local police stationed a patrol car nearby for a few hours.

Multiple reports have also emerged of students receiving harassment over the Gaza war.

In the US, Jewish high school student are reviewing their choices for college in the wake of a wave of anti-Israel and antisemitic incidents.

Eric Reilly, who was thinking of Cornell has taken it off the list. Last Sunday, Jewish students at Cornell, in upstate New York, were ordered to stay locked in their rooms after a fellow student issued threats to murder, rape and maim them. (He has since been charged and could face a jail sentence.)