Is This Living? French police guard synagogue in city of Bordeaux. Image by getty images

(JTA) — Police in France arrested four teenagers who are suspected of beating a Jewish boy with a stick and taking away his kippah outside a synagogue north of Paris.

The suspects were detained Wednesday night in Montmagny, the Le Parisien daily reported Thursday. Their alleged suspect, 14, was beaten after 8 p.m. outside the suburb’s synagogue, where the holiday of Purim was being celebrated. The National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA, praised authorities for “swift and effective” action.

The report did not say whether the boy was injured. One of his attackers was armed with a baton. The boy’s sunglasses were smashed in the attack.  The alleged attackers, ages 14 and 15, called the Jewish boy, his sister and brother “dirty Jews”  According to BNVCA, all four suspects are of Arab descent.

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The Jewish children were lighting firecrackers, a Purim custom in some Jewish neighborhoods in Europe. In recent years, communal leaders and Jewish school directors have forbidden the use of firecrackers and toy guns during Purim  due to security concerns.

The alleged attackers called them “dirty Jews” at the park where they were playing, Le Parisien reported based on police sources. They are believed to have waited for the boy while he attended service at a nearby synagogue and assaulted him after he exited.

Police are treating the assault as an anti-Semitic incident.

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