Stars of David graffitied on buildings in Paris: 850+ reports to date

Stars of David have been found graffitied on buildings in the Paris area. More than 850 such acts have been reported in France since the Hamas attacks.

Similar graffiti was also found in Parisian suburbs including Vanves, Fontenay-aux-Roses, Aubervilliers and Saint-Ouen. Stars of David were sometimes accompanied by inscriptions such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will win,” according to reports.

About 400 people have been arrested for anti-Semitic acts this month, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said Sunday.

The government is “mobilized to fight with the greatest determination all racist, antisemitic or xenophobic acts,” he told BFM TV.

Dupond-Moretti said the government is working on a bill to make hate speech a crime punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros ($54,000). “We will not cede an inch to the enemies of the republic,” he said.

The number of anti-Semitic acts reported in France rose by 74% in the first nine months of 2020 compared with the same period last year, according to the interior ministry.

The union of Jewish students of France said the graffiti was designed to mirror the way Jews were forced to wear the stars by the Nazi regime.

“This act of marking recalls the processes of the 1930s and the second world war which led to the extermination of millions of Jews,” its president Samuel Lejoyeux said.

“The people who did this clearly wanted to terrify,” he added.

The government has been criticised for not doing enough to protect the country’s Jewish community, the largest in Europe.

President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks and said the government will do everything it can to protect the Jewish community.

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