https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from France in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed A Holocaust memorial in Lyon was defaced with a "Free Gaza" inscription, city officials told AFP on Saturday, fuelling concerns over an increase in antisemitic acts and hate crimes in France. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250831/french-holocaust-memorial-defaced-with-free-gaza Sun, 31 Aug 2025 13:21:54 +0200 french-holocaust-memorial-defaced-with-free-gaza The cutting down of an olive tree planted in memory of a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006 stirred outrage in France on Friday, with President Emmanuel Macron vowing punishment over an act of antisemitic "hatred". https://www.thelocal.fr/20250815/french-pm-decries-anti-semitic-hatred-after-memorial-tree-cut-down Fri, 15 Aug 2025 13:47:51 +0200 french-pm-decries-anti-semitic-hatred-after-memorial-tree-cut-down French police have arrested a 16-year-old boy suspected of attacking a rabbi in a city south of the capital, a prosecutor said on Sunday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250323/france-arrests-teenager-for-suspected-attack-on-rabbi Sun, 23 Mar 2025 19:05:17 +0100 france-arrests-teenager-for-suspected-attack-on-rabbi France saw nearly 1,600 anti-Semitic acts in 2024, a slight dip on the year before but still at levels unseen in recent years as the Israel-Hamas war raged in Gaza, the country's main Jewish organisation said on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250122/anti-semitic-acts-at-historic-highs-in-france-despite-2024-fall Wed, 22 Jan 2025 18:35:07 +0100 anti-semitic-acts-at-historic-highs-in-france-despite-2024-fall A Bulgarian man fighting extradition to France for defacing the Paris Holocaust memorial in May denied on Wednesday that he had acted out of racial motives, telling AFP it was "just hooliganism". https://www.thelocal.fr/20240807/bulgaria-suspect-in-paris-holocaust-memorial-defacement-denies-racial-motives Wed, 07 Aug 2024 18:09:57 +0200 bulgaria-suspect-in-paris-holocaust-memorial-defacement-denies-racial-motives France on Friday ordered additional security measures at Jewish sites across the country, saying there was danger of revenge attacks after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240802/france-tightens-security-at-jewish-sites-after-mideast-tension Fri, 02 Aug 2024 18:31:03 +0200 france-tightens-security-at-jewish-sites-after-mideast-tension A major French Jewish group on Sunday slammed a hard-left MP for saying Israeli athletes were not welcome at the Paris Olympics from next week because of the war in Gaza, calling the comments "irresponsible". https://www.thelocal.fr/20240721/outrage-after-french-mp-says-israelis-not-welcome-at-olympics Sun, 21 Jul 2024 21:19:34 +0200 outrage-after-french-mp-says-israelis-not-welcome-at-olympics A French Holocaust denier arrested in Scotland was handed over to France on Friday after losing his extradition battle, a source close to the case told AFP. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240203/scotland-extradites-holocaust-denier-to-face-charges-in-france Sat, 03 Feb 2024 14:26:38 +0100 scotland-extradites-holocaust-denier-to-face-charges-in-france Anti-Semitic acts in France nearly quadrupled in 2023 compared with the previous year, a Jewish organisation said on Wednesday, reflecting a surge in discrimination since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240125/anti-semitic-acts-quadrupled-in-france-last-year Thu, 25 Jan 2024 10:20:01 +0100 anti-semitic-acts-quadrupled-in-france-last-year Germany and France on Saturday moved to reinforce security around Jewish temples, schools and monuments after the surprise attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel. https://www.thelocal.fr/20231008/germany-and-france-step-up-security-at-jewish-sites Sun, 08 Oct 2023 11:26:47 +0200 germany-and-france-step-up-security-at-jewish-sites A street art mural in a French city depicting President Emmanuel Macron as a puppet in the hands of an economist of Jewish origin has been removed, authorities said on Friday, after it was denounced as blatantly anti-Semitic. https://www.thelocal.fr/20220624/french-city-authorities-agree-to-remove-anti-semitic-mural-of-macron Fri, 24 Jun 2022 18:24:47 +0200 french-city-authorities-agree-to-remove-anti-semitic-mural-of-macron French police discovered an arsenal of weapons including machine guns after arresting four men suspected of belonging to a neo-Nazi group in the eastern Alsace region, officials said Friday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20220603/french-police-find-alarming-neo-nazi-arms-stash Fri, 03 Jun 2022 18:17:58 +0200 french-police-find-alarming-neo-nazi-arms-stash A French court has fined seven people for a torrent of anti-Semitic abuse on social media aimed at the runner-up of the latest Miss France contest. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211104/french-court-fines-seven-over-anti-semitic-abuse-of-miss-france-contestant Thu, 04 Nov 2021 10:42:19 +0100 french-court-fines-seven-over-anti-semitic-abuse-of-miss-france-contestant Two men went on trial on Tuesday over the 2018 murder of an elderly Jewish woman that provoked protests and alarm in France about anti-Semitic crime. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211026/two-men-on-trial-over-murder-of-elderly-jewish-woman-that-shocked-france Tue, 26 Oct 2021 14:00:57 +0200 two-men-on-trial-over-murder-of-elderly-jewish-woman-that-shocked-france A teacher in eastern France received a suspended jail sentence on Wednesday for inciting racial hatred after brandishing an anti-Semitic sign at a demonstration over the government's Covid-19 health pass. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211020/french-teacher-convicted-of-anti-semitism-over-vaccine-protest-sign Wed, 20 Oct 2021 18:39:05 +0200 french-teacher-convicted-of-anti-semitism-over-vaccine-protest-sign A teacher in eastern France will go on trial next month accused of seeking to incite racial hatred after brandishing a sign at a protest against new Covid-19 restrictions that police said was clearly anti-Semitic, prosecutors announced on Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210810/french-teacher-to-go-on-trial-over-anti-semitic-sign-at-protest-against-health-passport Tue, 10 Aug 2021 19:41:13 +0200 french-teacher-to-go-on-trial-over-anti-semitic-sign-at-protest-against-health-passport A French court has ordered Twitter to give activists full access to all its documents relating to efforts to combat racism, sexism and other forms of hate speech on the social network. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210707/french-court-orders-twitter-to-reveal-anti-hate-speech-efforts Wed, 07 Jul 2021 12:03:15 +0200 french-court-orders-twitter-to-reveal-anti-hate-speech-efforts Protesters gathered in several French cities on Sunday to denounce a court's refusal of a trial for a man who killed a 65-year-old Jewish woman, after experts determined he acted in a "delirious fit" due to heavy marijuana use. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210426/protests-in-france-calling-for-trial-of-sarah-halimi-killer Mon, 26 Apr 2021 10:58:13 +0200 protests-in-france-calling-for-trial-of-sarah-halimi-killer A high-profile and horrifying murder case in France could now be the subject of a court case in Israel, after the victim's sister said the French justice system had failed. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210423/affaire-sarah-halimi-why-the-brutal-murder-of-a-jewish-woman-in-paris-could-now-be-tried-in-israel Fri, 23 Apr 2021 12:45:19 +0200 affaire-sarah-halimi-why-the-brutal-murder-of-a-jewish-woman-in-paris-could-now-be-tried-in-israel Damage to a memorial marking the site of Strasbourg's Old Synagogue, destroyed by the Nazis during World War II, was caused accidentally by a motorist and was not an act of anti-Semitism, a French police source has said. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190308/memorial-damage-at-strasbourgs-old-synagogue-an-accident Fri, 08 Mar 2019 10:00:43 +0100 memorial-damage-at-strasbourgs-old-synagogue-an-accident