The figures for hatred against Jews are particularly alarming. The number of anti-Semitic acts recorded in France jumped last year, to 1,676 compared to 436 in 2022, according to a report from the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif) which deplores an “explosion” after October 7, the date of Hamas attacks against Israel.
Never before has such a level been reached, declares Yonathan Arfi, the president of Crif, recalling that “we had a few dozen acts per year in the 1990s, a few hundred over the period 2000-2022”.
“School is no longer a sanctuary”
In six out of ten cases (57.8%), the acts recorded last year were attacks on people (physical violence, threatening words and gestures, etc.) rather than on property, according to this report compiling figures “recorded by the Ministry of the Interior and the Jewish Community Protection Service (SPCJ).” But these figures reflect “only part” of anti-Semitic acts, those which were the subject of a complaint or a report to the police, recalls Crif.
In more than 40% of cases, it involved “threatening words and gestures”. And if they were mainly committed in the private sphere (32%) and on public roads (20.4%), 7.5% were recorded on the Internet. Another worrying point for the Crif, 12.7% of the acts took place in a school environment, the majority of which were in college. “We are witnessing a rejuvenation of the perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts. The school is no longer a sanctuary of the Republic,” he laments.
The “explosion” after October 7
“For the first time in a long time, the coming generations are more susceptible to anti-Semitic prejudices than previous generations,” explains Yonathan Arfi, identifying “three fuels” for this phenomenon: “hatred of Israel, Islamism and conspiracy.”
In a country which is home to the largest Jewish community in Europe (around 500,000 people), Crif notes an “explosion” (+1,000%) of anti-Semitic acts after October 7. During the three months that followed, their number “equaled that of the previous three years combined”. Thus, from around forty each month over the summer period, anti-Semitic acts rose to 563 in October, 504 in November and 175 in December. “October 7 served as a catalyst for hatred,” said Yonathan Arfi, according to whom the vision of massacred Israeli civilians played a triggering role in this phenomenon.
The Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7 resulted in the deaths of more than 1,140 people, according to a count based on official data. In return, Israel launched a vast military operation which killed 25,700 Palestinians, according to a latest report from the Hamas Ministry of Health.