from the anti-Semitic threat to “Russian interference”, what we know

Investigators are now considering the possibility of destabilization coming from Russia, in the case of anti-Semitic tags discovered in Paris and its surrounding suburbs. The alleged sponsor has been identified. It would be a Moldovan in his fifties.

Since the discovery of blue Stars of David, tagged on the facades of buildings in Paris and its inner suburbs, investigators are making progress. They are now on the trail of an attempted Russian interference. In Saint-Ouen, Saint-Denis and Aubervilliers, these anti-Semitic graffiti appeared between Sunday October 29 and Monday October 30. In the 14th arrondissement of the capital, around sixty Stars of David were tagged during the night of Monday October 30 to Tuesday October 31. The first arrest concerned a Moldovan couple aged around thirty. The latter were seen tagging these Stars of David on buildings, then were taken into police custody. During the interrogation, they claimed that this was an order coming from Russia, for which they would have around 50 euros per person, according to information from Europe 1. These two people, in an irregular situation, were placed in a detention center. retention. Since then, investigators have identified another couple using video surveillance cameras. These two people left France before they could be arrested. For the police, these two cases are linked and support the theory of an attempt to destabilize Russia. “Regarding the facts themselves, the current judicial investigation will have to establish the possible responsibility of a foreign sponsor,” specified the Ministry of Justice.

The alleged sponsor has been identified

The alleged sponsor was also identified, with the help of the exploitation of the first couple’s telephones: it would be Anatoli Prizenko, a businessman in his fifties, also of Moldovan. Its sole aim was to inspire and support the Jews of Europe, according to BFMTV. This man would be part of a pro-Russian independence movement and would campaign for a Eurasian customs union. On Thursday, November 9, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs “firmly” condemned Moscow’s role in “the artificial amplification and first-time dissemination on social networks of photos of tags representing the Stars of David.” Russia defended itself by saying that these suspicions were “stupid” and “unworthy”.

Either way, these tags are reminiscent of Europe’s dark past. Almost a century ago, in the 1930s, Nazi Germany marked businesses and homes belonging to members of the Jewish community with these famous five-pointed stars. Tags that also appeared in a particular context. Indeed, while the war between Israel and Hamas continues, the French authorities, as well as the Jewish community of France, fear more than ever an export of the conflict to France. Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, more than 1,040 anti-Semitic acts have been committed in France, and 486 people have been arrested, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. “The number of anti-Semitic acts has exploded,” he stressed.

“Methods from the 1930s”

For their part, political figures from the different cities quickly denounced “despicable acts” and condemned these tags “with the greatest firmness”, as the mayor of Aubervilliers, Karine Franclet, clearly declared. “The perpetrators must be prosecuted and punished by the courts with the greatest severity and intransigence,” also estimated the city of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine.

“Anti-Semitism has no place in our Republic,” recalled the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, on Tuesday. And the Union of Jewish Students of France denounced: “Some want to terrorize French Jews by using the methods of the 1930s, they must be quickly found and severely punished.”