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A synagogue was vandalized and Jewish businesses looted and ransacked during the latest wave of riots in France over the weekend, with Jewish leaders calling on officials to declare a state of emergency.
Looters struck at several French cities on Saturday, including Paris, where a synagogue in the capital’s 19th arrondissement suffered damage, according to footage released by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) group.
“When chaos and violence take over the streets, synagogues are the first to suffer,” Sacha Roytman, CEO of CAM, 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 shows tables, chairs, prayer books and other items tossed around the interior offices at the temple in the aftermath of the looting.
A member of the temple told reporters he doesn’t know why protesters would go after the synagogue, suggesting they were likely targeted for antisemitic reasons.
“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 France’s second-largest city of Marseille, which boasts one of the largest Jewish populations of any city in Europe, rioters vandalized dozens of shops — stealing a range of products ranging from high-end Hermes items to slices of bread, according to local reports.
Ariel Goldmann, of the Unified Jewish Social Fund (SPCJ) organization, confirmed that some of the shops hit by the vandals were owned by Jewish people.
French journalist Paul Amar, who slammed some of the protesters for waving Palestinian flags during the riots, claimed Jewish-owned shops were directly targeted while Muslim-owned stores were allegedly spared.
There is no evidence that Jewish-owned stores were specifically targeted during the riots, Goldmann said, with the SPCJ working with local authorities to determine the full motives behind the looting.
The growing unrest in France due to the ongoing student protests have led Jewish leaders inside the nation to demand President Emmanuel Macron 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, the president of the Marseille-Provence branch of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish institutions, told JNS.
Benjamin, who blames the protests on the country’s far-left, said Saturday’s chaotic riots demonstrated that local police are completely overwhelmed by the massive amount of rioters.
“We are questioning whether they can ensure everyone’s safety,” he said.
In Paris, Meyer Habib, a French-Jewish former lawmaker, echoed the calls for Macron to ensure the safety of law-abiding citizens and crack down on the Palestinian-flag-waving protesters
“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,” he 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.