Paris Holocaust memorial and synagogues vandalized with green paint amid growing anti-Semitism linked to Gaza war tensions

PARIS, June 1 — France’s Holocaust memorial, along with three synagogues and a restaurant in Paris, was defaced with green paint overnight, police sources reported.

The Paris public prosecutor’s office confirmed that an investigation has been launched into “damage committed on religious grounds.” No arrests have been made so far.

“I am deeply disgusted by these heinous acts targeting the Jewish community,” French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau wrote on X

Retailleau recently called for "visible and dissuasive" security at sites connected to the Jewish community, amid rising concerns about anti-Semitic attacks.

In a separate communication seen by AFP, the minister had also ordered increased surveillance ahead of the upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavuot.

“Anti-Semitic acts make up more than 60 percent of all anti-religious offenses, and the Jewish community remains particularly vulnerable,” Retailleau stated in the message.

France's Jewish community — one of the largest globally — has been increasingly on alert amid a surge in attacks and desecration of memorials following the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023.

“There is deep sadness and outrage... at the images showing vandalized Jewish sites,” said Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF).

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced that the city will file a formal complaint over the vandalism.

“I strongly condemn these acts of intimidation. Anti-Semitism has no place in our city or in our Republic,” she said.

According to France's interior ministry, 1,570 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in 2023, compared to 436 in 2022. Between 2012 and 2022, the annual figures fluctuated between 311 and 851.

Other European Union countries have also reported a rise in both anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes since the Gaza conflict began, according to the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights.

In a similar incident in May 2024, red handprints were graffitied beneath a wall of the central Paris memorial honoring those who rescued Jews during the Nazi occupation of France from 1940 to 1944. — AFP