Probe into Stars of David graffiti in Paris suggests foreign interference
The daubing of dozens of blue Stars of David on buildings in Paris and its suburbs, widely condemned as anti-Semitic, may have been ordered by an individual living abroad, the Paris prosecutor has said.
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Two couples who allegedly stenciled Stars of David on buildings in the capital and two of its suburbs last week appear to be linked by a third party living abroad, the Paris prosecutor said in a statement on Tuesday.
The link was based on a telephone conversation by one of the couples in Russian.
"At this stage, it is not excluded that the markings of the blue Stars of David in the Paris region were made at the explicit demand of a person living abroad," said prosecutor Laure Beccuau.
An investigating magistrate will now take over the case, "as much to identify the authors as to analyse the intentions that guided the operation".
Conversations in Russian
Around 60 blue Stars of David, similar to those found on the Israeli flag, were found painted on walls in Paris and several suburbs on the morning of 31 October. Video surveillance showed a man and a woman marking the walls, watched by a third person who took photographs, the statement said. The couple fled France the following day.
Four days earlier, on 27 October, a separate couple from Moldova, who didn't have the necessary documents to remain in France, were detained after they were seen stenciling a star on a Paris building.
“They declared they were acting under orders from a third person and for remuneration,” the prosecutor's statement said, adding that a recording of a phone conversation in Russian, a language spoken by many Moldovans, confirmed the claim.
“Telephone investigation allows us to think that the two couples ... were in relation with the same third person,” or party, the statement said.
It did not state whether the nationality of the third party was known.
However, Europe 1 radio identified the man taking the photographs as "Anatoli P,", a Moldavan active in pro-Russian circles.
Meanwhile Le Monde daily reported that pictures of the Star of David tags had been widely circulated on RRN (Reliable Recent News) – a network "aimed at distorting information and disseminating propaganda in support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine" according to the EU.
March against anti-Semitism
France has Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim population and tensions in Paris in particular have risen in the wake of the attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on 7 October, which has led to heavy bombing of the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces.
France has seen a recent spike in anti-Semitic acts, with more than 1,000 recorded since the 7 October attack the interior minister said on Sunday.
The French prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, has condemned the blue star graffiti as “despicable", saying it would not go unpunished.
In the town of Saint-Ouen, north of Paris, the blue star graffiti was accompanied by inscriptions such as “Palestine will overcome”.
The Paris public prosecutor said it was necessary to investigate "the anti-Semitic nature of the perpetrators' intentions, particularly in view of the geopolitical context and its repercussions in France".
The two speakers of the French legislature, Gerard Larcher of the Senate, and Yael Braun-Pivet of the National Assembly, have called for a mass rally against anti-Semitism this Sunday.
(with newswires)
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