The number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded in France soared by 192 percent in the first half of this year, according to government figures.
The French Interior Ministry's Directorate General for National and Territorial Intelligence (DNRT) revealed this week that 887 “anti-Semitic acts” had taken place in the first half of this year, adding to a rise in anti-Semitism in the country following the October 7 terrorist attacks. He pointed out that there is a trend. As for Israel, “it looks like it's going to be a long one.”
This represents an increase of 192% compared to the same period in 2023. le figaro reported.
This increase means that anti-Semitic acts now account for 67 percent of all religiously motivated incidents, even though Jews make up less than 1 percent of the country. Previously, France had the highest number of recorded anti-Christian acts.
According to DNRT, anti-Semitic incidents appear to have a strong correlation with the news cycle in the Middle East. For example, in the week after Israel bombed Rafah, anti-Semitic acts in France soared to 187 compared to 54 the previous week. The Interior Ministry's General Directorate said that “the controversy… undoubtedly played a catalytic role” in provoking the attack.
DNRT also revealed that physically violent anti-Semitic attacks increased by 165 percent, with 53 incidents recorded in the first half of this year compared to 20 in the same period in 2023.
(Cliff) Jonathan Alfie, President of the Council of Representatives of French Jewish Organizations, speaking at the commemoration of the October 7th attack on Israel in Paris. said: “Mourning had not yet begun when anti-Semitism was spreading everywhere.”
Alfie said separately: interview and Le Monde: “If anti-Semitism in France flares up even more at a time of flashpoints in the Middle East, I am concerned that it will not subside, even if the conflict subsides… for the first time in the post-war period. During World War II, anti-Semitism is now being fueled at all levels of society.
President Cliffe said that far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon was “mainly responsible” for the outbreak of anti-Semitism in France, adding that the leader of La France Insemeise (LFI) “is responsible for the rise in anti-Semitism in our country”. He accused him of giving him “political support.”
The former left-wing presidential candidate, who is often compared to Bernie Sanders in the US and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK, has previously come under fire for appearing to downplay rising anti-Semitism in France. . claim “Contrary to official propaganda, anti-Semitism remains in France,” he said in June.
The parents of a 12-year-old Jewish girl who was gang-raped in Courbevoie earlier this year after her acquaintances discovered she was a “dirty Jew” condemned Mélenchon's comments.
“We are not living with a residual anti-Semitism,” the mother explains, “we are living with a heavy, visibly overt anti-Semitism.”Imagining June 15th “Our daughter experienced it firsthand at school before the catastrophe happened,” they said.
Meanwhile, the DNRT revealed that it had received more than 6,000 applications from French Jews to immigrate to Israel after the October 7 attacks.
