Paris attacks: Veiled woman attacked for being Isis 'terrorist' amid rising tensions

A young Muslim woman has been attacked in the southern French city of Marseille, after seven coordinated terror attacks in Paris on 13 November that killed at least 129 people amplified communitarian tensions in the country.

Muslim clerics and political leaders publicly condemned the Paris terrorist attacks after President Francois Hollande announced that Isis - also known as Islamic State (IS) - was responsible for the atrocities.

In a statement, IS claimed responsibility for the Paris massacres, claiming it had committed the atrocities "in Allah's name". Notorious for its mass killings, abductions and beheadings, the radical group has attracted some support in the Muslim world.

"Today brothers from all across the world set foot in Gaul (present-day France) and remind the kaffir (disbelievers) in dur Al Kuffr (the land of disbelievers) that we live beside you," the group said in a written statement.

Rising community tensions

While hashtags #NotInMyName and #IAmAMuslim are being used to explain that extremists' messages of hate contradict the messages of peace that Muslims want to promote, France has long had a tense relationship with parts of its Muslim community.

The unnamed woman, was attacked by a man who reproached her for being a terrorist because she was wearing a veil as she walked out of an underground station.

She was slightly injured after the man punched her in the thorax with a sharp object described as a cutter.

Meanwhile, the recent conflict in Gaza has also provoked tensions between France's large Muslim and Jewish communities, and attacks on Jews are increasing.

Jewish teacher stabbed by 'IS supporters'

Wednesday's attack occurred just hours after a Jewish history teacher was assaulted by three men in Marseille.

The teacher, said to be a practising Jew with a beard and skullcap and easily identifiable, was taken to hospital in the city, but his life is not thought to be in danger.

Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin told Reuters news agency that the teacher was approached in the street by three men on two scooters, one of whom reportedly wore an IS t-shirt.

The men shouted anti-Semitic insults and one showed the teacher a picture of Mohamed Merah, the Muslim extremist who killed seven people including three young children in southern France in 2012, before being shot dead by armed police.

"The three people insulted, threatened and then stabbed their victim in the arm and leg. They were interrupted by the arrival of a car and fled," said Robin.

In a similar attack in Marseille in October, a Rabbi and two worshippers were stabbed outside a synagogue by a sole assailant who shouted anti-Semitic insults.

France is home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish population - five million and 600,000, respectively.