A synagogue was vandalized and several Jewish-owned businesses were looted during a weekend of rioting across France, prompting Jewish community leaders to urge officials to impose a state of emergency.
Looting was reported in multiple French cities on Saturday. In Paris, a synagogue in the capital’s 19th arrondissement was damaged, according to video released by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM).
“When chaos and violence take over the streets, synagogues are the first to suffer,” CAM CEO Sacha Roytman said in a statement. “The desecration of the synagogue in Paris is a clear warning sign: What begins against Jews never stops there.”
The footage showed tables, chairs, prayer books and other belongings scattered throughout the synagogue’s interior offices after the looting.
A member of the congregation told reporters he was unsure why protesters had targeted the synagogue, but said antisemitism could have played a role.
“It can’t be a coincidence that they chose to target a Jewish place of worship,” the congregant told IsraJ. “They must have thought that since they are Jewish, there must be money there.”
In Marseille, France’s second-largest city and home to one of Europe’s biggest Jewish communities, rioters vandalized dozens of stores. Local reports said thieves took a wide range of goods, from luxury Hermès products to loaves and slices of bread.
Ariel Goldmann of the Unified Jewish Social Fund, known by its French acronym SPCJ, confirmed that some of the businesses affected were owned by Jewish people.
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French journalist Paul Amar criticized protesters who carried Palestinian flags during the unrest and alleged that Jewish-owned stores were singled out while Muslim-owned businesses were left untouched.
Goldmann said there was no evidence that Jewish-owned shops had been specifically selected. The SPCJ is working with local authorities to establish the motives behind the looting, he said.
As unrest linked to ongoing student protests intensified, Jewish leaders in France called on President Emmanuel Macron to declare a state of emergency.
“I believe we need to declare a state of emergency in France, send in the army, massively increase law enforcement personnel and arrest these rioters and vandals by every means,” Bruno Benjamin, president of the Marseille-Provence branch of CRIF, the umbrella organization representing French Jewish institutions, told JNS.
Benjamin, who attributed the unrest to France’s far left, said Saturday’s violence showed that local police were overwhelmed by the scale of the riots.
“We are questioning whether they can ensure everyone’s safety,” he said.
In Paris, Meyer Habib, a former French Jewish lawmaker, also called on Macron to protect law-abiding residents and take action against protesters carrying Palestinian flags.
“While French President Emmanuel is giving advice to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about security, the main square in Paris, the Christian Dior shops, the Apple shops, even grocery stores, [are looted] by whole families, mothers with their children,” Habib said on Channel 14.
“I feel pain for France, my country, and call on my French brethren: Wake up before it’s too late,” Habib added.
