These alarming events occurred as France commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the Paris terrorist attacks that deeply impacted the nation.
Incendiary messages advocating for the “gassing” of Jewish individuals were discovered on the walls of the synagogue in Rouen, as revealed by Natacha Ben Haïm, the president of the Israelite Religious Association of Rouen, who oversees the synagogue.
Ben Haïm has filed a lawsuit against the perpetrators, who remain unknown, for “public provocation of hatred”.
Ben Haïm expressed her concerns, stating, “All these assaults are occurring within a backdrop of escalating antisemitism in France. I refuse to remain silent; I am determined to shed light on this issue.”
In the country home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, the number of antisemitic incidents recorded in 2023 almost quadrupled in a year, with 1676 cases reported, according to data from the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France.
“Discovering these tags in Rouen, it’s a double symbol, a symbol because it falls on the anniversary of the Hyper Cacher attack, and a symbol because it targets the Rouen synagogue, which was the victim of arson a few months ago,” said the president of Representative Council of Jewish institutions in France, Yonathan Arfi, on French radio RTL on Tuesday.
Investigations into the graffiti in Rouen and the Paris suburbs have been opened by their respective prosecutor’s offices, officials told CNN.
French interior minister Bruno Retailleau denounced the vandalism targeting the French Jewish community, and the growing antisemitism.
“The Jewish community represents less than 1% of the population, and is the victim of 57 per cent of all anti-religious attacks,” Retailleau told French media on Tuesday.
