Since October 7 and the Hamas attack in southern Israel, anti-Semitic acts have increased sharply in France. More than 850 incidents, more than 400 arrests, and nearly 6,000 online reports have been recorded.
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For French people who have chosen to come and live in Israel, the changing climate in France is a real concern. The figures show it unambiguously: since the Hamas attacks on October 7 and Israel’s armed response, openly anti-Semitic acts have increased sharply in France.
What shocked Paul the most, living in Ashdod, in the south of Israel, were the stars of David sprayed on the walls of Paris: “It reminds me of a lot of things,” he emphasizes. “It takes me back to the 1930s. The problem is that the 1930s preceded and prepared the way for the 1940s. That’s what’s worrying.”
This increase in anti-Semitic acts also worries Sarah, who was a mathematics teacher in France for a long time before coming to live in Israel in 2016: “I am sad to know that Israel or the Jews are still being used as scapegoats. We have friends who tell us their distress, who tell us their suffering.”
“What hurts me is that the French people are not moving. Indifference is what can kill.”
Same observation for Myriam, who left Paris seven years ago: “It’s happening again, we’re always the guilty ones.” Like many Franco-Israelis, Myriam regrets the absence of national mobilization in France after the Hamas attack on October 7. “Of course it hurts me. Before Israel attacked, there was October 7. Where is the support for Israel at that time? Nothing, nothing. We didn’t see any protests in the world to say ‘No’.”
According to the Elysée, a tribute for the French victims of the attack carried out by the Palestinian Islamist movement should be held soon in Paris.