1,570 anti-Semitic acts recorded.

The report also shows that throughout 2024, the theme of Palestine was a powerful catalyst for anti-Semitic acts.

 

With 1,570 anti-Semitic acts recorded in 2024, France has maintained a worrying level of anti-Jewish incidents for the second year running, according to the annual report of Crif, the umbrella representative body of Jewish institutions in France.

The report is drawn up by the Protection Service of the Jewish community (SPCJ) on the basis of figures compiled jointly by the SPCJ and the Interior Ministry.

Despite a slight drop of 6.3% compared with 2023, these figures remain at a historically high level,” warned Crif president Yonathan Arfi on Wednesday.

‘’This relative decrease should not mask the seriousness of the situation, which testifies to the worrying persistence of anti-Semitic acts in the country,’’ he said.

France is home to the largest Jewish community in Europe.

65.2% of the recorded anti-Semitic acts concern attacks on individuals. On the other hand, more than 10% of attacks on individuals involve physical violence.

The report also shows that throughout 2024, the theme of Palestine was a powerful catalyst for anti-Semitic acts. A semantic study of the words used by the perpetrators revealed that over 30% of anti-Semitic acts referred to Palestine (43 acts out of an average of 130 acts per month).

There was a marked increase in anti-Semitic acts between May 27 and June 10. During this period, two current events intersected: the European election campaign and the media campaign against the Israeli operation in Rafah, led by anti-Israeli organizations.

The hammering of the false accusation of genocide, and its corollary of accusing Israel’s supporters of being “pro-genocide”, helped to demonize the image of Jews in France and justify hostile or insulting behavior towards them, Crif said.

72 acts were recorded during the week of May 27 and 76 acts during the week of June 3. This represents an increase of over 140% compared with the weekly average of just over 30 anti-Semitic acts.
For the week of May 27, 41 anti-Semitic acts were identified in which the perpetrators evoked the theme of Palestine, i.e. more than half the acts recorded that week.

According the report, in 2024, 192 anti-Semitic acts committed in schools were reported, which represents 12.2% of all anti-Semitic acts recorded this year.