Grafittikunstneren «Combo» ble overfalt av fire ungdommer da han malte ordet Coexist – Sameksistens – i en ghetto i Paris for å inspirere til religiøs harmoni.
Han hadde malt Coexist med den islamske halvmånen som forbokstav, Davidsstjernen som X og et kors som T, da fire ungdommer dukket opp og forlangte at han fjernet det. Da han nektet gikk de til angrep. Han ble etterlatt blødende med skulderen ute av ledd og beskjeden om å «barbere av seg skjegget».
A French graffiti artist has told how he was attacked by a gang after refusing to take down a mural calling for religious harmony in Paris.
The artist, known as Combo, 28, was left with a dislocated shoulder and bruises across his face after being set upon in a ghetto in the east of the capital.
He had just finished a design that featured the word ‘coexist’ written with a Muslim crescent for letter C, a Star of David as the X and a Christian cross as the ‘T’.
It was accompanied by a life-size self-portrait and his tag ‘combo’.
Four youths reportedly asked him to remove it and then attacked him when he refused, it was reported by Le Monde.
The attack has highlighted the religious tensions in the French capital that have flared up since last month’s massacre at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper by Islamist extremists.
Overfallet er anmeldt til politiet, men kunstneren vil ikke si noe om gjerningsmennenes identitet eller signalement. – Det vil bare tilføre mer bensin på bålet, sier han.
When asked whether Paris had changed since the Islamist attacks, Combo said: ‘It is different, clearly.
‘The way people look at me especially. Not because of my origins I believe, but because of my beard.
‘That being said, I’m not being paranoid and I’m very confident about the future. I’m forbidding myself to be pessimistic.
‘The atmosphere is heavier than usual, but I only see it as temporary thing. It doesn’t drastically change the way I work.
‘We always had racism issues in France, especially towards Arabs. And the perception one may have, particularly from abroad, is clearly something that is fuelled by the media.’