The Paris prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday October 31 that it had opened an investigation after the discovery of “around sixty Stars of David” poached on the walls of the 14th arrondissement of the capital.
The investigation for “degradation of the property of others aggravated by the circumstance that it was committed due to origin, race, ethnicity or religion” was entrusted to the district police station, said the prosecution. This offense is punishable by a maximum penalty of four years’ imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros.
The town hall of the 14th arrondissement had revealed, earlier in the morning, having received “several reports of Stars of David stenciled on numerous walls”. “This act of marking recalls the processes of the 1930s and the Second World War which led to the extermination of millions of Jews,” wrote the municipality in a press release, denouncing “anti-Semitic acts”. “Anti-Semitism plastered in our streets as in the darkest hours,” also commented Carine Petit, the mayor of the district.
Similar tags appeared last weekend in Vanves and Fontenay-aux-Roses (Hauts-de-Seine), as well as in Aubervilliers and Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), where the stencils were accompanied by inscriptions such as “From the sea to the Jordan, Palestine will overcome.”
“I strongly condemn these racist and anti-Semitic acts. The culprits must be arrested and judged with the greatest severity,” reacted the mayor of Saint-Ouen, Karim Bouamrane, on Monday. “Anti-Semitism constitutes an offense,” recalled the mayor of Aubervilliers, Karine Franclet, who denounced “despicable acts.”
Since the attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2,500 reports of anti-Semitic acts have been received in France on the Pharos reporting platform, according to the Interior Ministry. On Sunday, the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, reported more than 400 arrests for “anti-Semitic acts”.