This photograph shows a Swastika and a graffiti reading “Hitler player” on a wall near the synagogue in Rouen, north-western France, on January 7, 2025.
Photo: Lou Benoist/ AFP
“When a pro-Palestinian discourse is allowed to win, it is French Jews who pay the price,” campaigner said.
French Jews have faced what campaigners against antisemitism have described as a “torrent of intimidatory attacks” over the past week, blamed by some on rampant anti-Israeli rhetoric.
The Algemeiner Journal, which reports on international Jewish affairs, on Wednesday pointed to separate incidents that have prompted concerns of rising antisemitism—already far higher since the October 7th terror attacks—and led to “urgent calls” for more serious government protection.
These included the attack of a rabbi in Deauville by three drunk men who shouted antisemitic slurs, the arrest of a young man who climbed a synagogue in Conflans-Sainte-Honorinen, removed an Israeli flag from the building and attempted to set it on fire, and the vandalising of a primary school in Lyon with swastikas and pro-Palestine slogans, as well as with fire.
Responding to the last of these three incidents, Yonathan Arfi, who is president of France’s Representative Council of Jewish Institutions, said that “when a pro-Palestinian populist discourse is allowed to win, it is French Jews who pay the price.”
The perverted Palestinian cause is becoming a rallying cry of hatred against Jews and the entire Republic.
Voilà où nous en sommes ! 👉La cause palestinienne sert de justification pour incendier une école 👉La nazification d'Israël sert de carburant à l'antisémitisme crasse
Quand on laisse gagner un discours populiste propalestinien, ce sont les Français juifs qui en paient le prix.… https://t.co/dMaQBnbfqi
His organisation also pointed to “the stigmatisation of Jews every day,” which it said was “fueled” by anti-Israeli hatred.
Israel recently criticised France’s Emmanuel Macron for championing the recognition of a Palestinian state, accusing him of undertaking a “crusade against the Jewish state” and insisting that the facts of the situation in the Middle East “do not interest” President Emmanuel Macron.
President Macron’s Crusade Against the Jewish State Continues. The facts do not interest Macron. There is no humanitarian blockade. That is a blatant lie. Israel is currently facilitating the entry of aid to Gaza through two parallel efforts.
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 30, 2025
europeanconservative.com columnist Lauren Smith also wrote on Friday that across the West, the “Free Palestine” slogan is being used to excuse antisemitic barbarism masquerading as activism.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
