Fears of Increased Anti-Semitic Acts in France Amidst Hamas Offensive in Israel

The Jewish community of Créteil, in the Paris region, which has just spent a religious holiday weekend marred by the Hamas offensive in Israel, fears an increase in anti-Semitic acts in France.

David (1) knows almost nothing about the Hamas attack perpetrated the day before against Israel. Over the last twenty-four hours, the rare information has reached him by word of mouth. And the news is patchy. Since the evening of Friday October 6, neither he, his wife nor his daughter have had access to their phones. “Until Saturday evening, it was Shabbat and today is Simchat Torah [fête marquant la fin du cycle de lecture annuel de la Torah, ndlr]. We are religious, so during these two holidays, we do not use electricity or electronic devices. he says this Sunday, October 8, as he leaves the synagogue of the Israelite Cultural Association of Créteil (Acic), in Val-de-Marne.

“Above all, we don’t know how all this was presented on social networks and in the media,” worries her daughter Lola, who says she already dreads future conversations with her non-Jewish friends. Here, everyone fears an increase in anti-Semitic acts in the coming days. Vanessa, her mother, “especially fear for children in Jewish schools.” “School will start again on Tuesday, I’m already stressed. […] But that’s the eternal problem of Jews, there aren’t many of us and we’re always afraid. Through our history, fear is part of our