Israel-Hamas: 257 anti-Semitic acts recorded in the Paris metropolitan area

Europe 1 with AFP 15:01 p.m., November 05, 2023

Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez announced Sunday that there had been 257 anti-Semitic acts in the Paris metropolitan area and 90 arrests since Oct. 7, the date of Hamas' attack on Israel. "We are already at 257 incidents" in Paris and in the three inner suburbs (Val-de-Marne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis), "more than over a whole year," said Laurent Nuñez, interviewed on BFMTV. "Nearly 90 arrests" have been made for these anti-Semitic acts, "perpetrators of insults, tags, even violence," Nuñez said.

"No typical profile"

There is "no typical profile", the police prefect added. "We find all profiles, young kids, who say very serious things," but also "people who are more rooted in the defense of the pro-Palestinian cause and who go off the rails," he said. At this stage, there was no person from the ultra-right movement among those arrested, the police prefect added.

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Of the 257 anti-Semitic acts, only "124 complaints" have been filed, the police chief said, urging people to file a complaint so that investigations can be launched. The prefect of police of Paris also returned to the Stars of David tagged on several buildings in Paris and its agglomeration. There have been "up to 250 affixes of this star," Nuñez said. It was an "atypical case compared to other anti-Semitic acts," he added, referring to a "coordinated action." This act "seems to implicate a team of perpetrators", he continued.

857 anti-Semitic acts recorded in France since October 7

The stars, stencilled in blue, were affixed "sometimes to buildings where people from the Jewish community lived, sometimes not." There was a "desire for these stars to be seen," the police chief said.

A Moldovan couple was arrested on October 27 for spray-painting a blue Star of David in the 10th arrondissement. The couple said they had committed the offence at the behest of a third party living in Russia, a source close to the investigation told AFP. These statements could not be confirmed by the investigators and have yet to be verified. On the whole of France, "857 anti-Semitic acts" have been recorded since October 7, "as much in three weeks" as over "the whole past year", said Tuesday the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.