Paris: Five Key Sites of the Jewish Community Targeted with Green Paint

On the night of Friday, May 30 to Saturday, May 31, several sites frequented by Paris’s Jewish community were vandalized. Five locations, including three synagogues, the Shoah Memorial, and a restaurant, were splattered with green paint in the 4th and 20th arrondissements. The damage was discovered early Saturday morning by a police patrol.

A Symbolic Act with Serious Consequences

Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators shows a man dressed in black spraying paint on several façades around 4:35 a.m., including the Shoah Memorial and the Tournelles Synagogue. A partially used paint container was also found on site. No messages or inscriptions accompanied the paint attacks, leaving the motive unclear.

The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation for “vandalism motivated by religion,” handled by the Territorial Security unit. Authorities remain cautious about the perpetrator’s identity and precise motives, although the current rise in antisemitic tensions in the country is a cause for concern.

Political Reactions and Calls for Vigilance

French political leaders unanimously condemned the attacks. Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, denounced “these intimidations with the utmost force” and confirmed that a complaint will be filed. Ariel Weil, Mayor of Paris Centre, stressed the symbolic gravity of the vandalism, reminding that “symbolic violence always ends up leading to physical violence.” He also recalled recent precedents, including the “red hands” painted on the Shoah Memorial in May 2024, an act attributed to a foreign destabilization attempt.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau expressed his “deep disgust” at these “odious acts” targeting the Jewish community. Aurore Bergé, Minister for Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination, pledged that every effort would be made to identify those responsible.

Meanwhile, Yonathan Arfi, President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif), expressed “great sadness and indignation,” emphasizing that these attacks reinforce feelings of stigmatization and hurt among French Jews.