Vandals target Paris Holocaust memorial, synagogues with paint
France's Holocaust memorial, two synagogues and a restaurant in central Paris were vandalised with green paint overnight, according to police sources on Saturday, prompting condemnation from government and city officials.
'I am deeply disgusted by these heinous acts targeting the Jewish community,' said French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on X.
No arrests have been made.
Retailleau last week called for 'visible and dissuasive' security measures at Jewish-linked sites amid concerns over possible anti-Semitic acts.
In a separate message seen by AFP, the interior minister on Friday had again ordered heightened surveillance ahead of the upcoming Jewish Shavuot holiday.
'Anti-Semitism has no place in our city'
The French Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, has for months been on edge in the face of a growing number of attacks and desecrations of memorials since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023.
'Anti-Semitic acts account for more than 60 percent of anti-religious acts, and the Jewish community is particularly vulnerable,' Retailleau said in the message seen by AFP.
Paris authorities would be lodging a complaint over the paint incident, said the city's mayor, Anne Hidalgo.
'I condemn these acts of intimidation in the strongest possible terms. Anti-Semitism has no place in our city or in our Republic,' she said.
In May 2024, red hand graffiti was painted beneath the wall at the memorial in central Paris honouring individuals who saved Jews from persecution during the 1940-44 Nazi occupation of France.
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