France’s government on Tuesday vowed a tough response amid the latest anti-Semitic incidents over the weekend.
Spokesperson Benjamin Griveaux called on law enforcement to catch the suspects while implying the latest wave of attacks could be attributed to far-left and far-right activists who have penetrated weekly “yellow vest” protests, which have been against French President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
“We’re not talking about the protesters who are struggling to make ends meet,” said Griveaux on France 2 television. “But those who are committing violent acts, openly anti-Semitic or racist acts, they must be charged and severely punished.”
The latest string of anti-Semitic attacks includes a tree commemorating a young French Jewish man who was tortured to death in 2006 being cut off, the word “Juden” (German for “Jew”) scribbled on the window of a Paris bagel bakery, and swastikas drawn on Paris mailboxes decorated with a picture of former government minister and Holocaust survivor Simone Veil, who died in 2017.
French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Monday that the number of recorded anti-Semitic acts soared by 74 percent in 2018.