French authorities have launched an investigation after antisemitic graffiti and death threats were discovered on several public buildings, prompting outrage from the local Jewish community as it continues to face relentless targeting amid a growing wave of antisemitism in France.
On Thursday, antisemitic and hateful slogans were scrawled on the local office of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) — the main representative body of French Jews — in Grenoble, a city in southeastern France.
Unknown individuals also vandalized the offices of municipal candidate Hervé Gerbi, the former chair of CRIF’s Grenoble branch until 2024.
“I am aware that there are still voters to be convinced. The message written on the door of my office is an illustration of this. We must convince people that security is the first of freedoms and that secularism is our common good,” Gerbi said in a statement.
In this latest attack, the buildings were defaced with graffiti reading “A slow and painful death to every member of the CRIF,” “F–k the CRIF,” and “Goy Power,” a phrase linked to online white supremacist and antisemitic movements.
Local police have opened an investigation into the incident after Gerbi and CRIF filed a complaint, though no arrests have been made so far.
Yonathan Arfi, president of CRIF, strongly condemned the incident as part of an ongoing surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes that has only intensified since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in October 2023.
“Hatred against Jews has become widespread. When will there be a response?” Arfi wrote in a post on X. “We will not let anyone intimidate the Jewish community in France.”
Éric Hattab, head of CRIF in the region, also condemned the incident, warning that many Jews — particularly younger members of the community — are considering leaving France amid the growing climate of hostility.
“It doesn’t scare me at all. If they’re trying to intimidate me, it’s a waste of time. I will continue my mission to serve the Jewish community in Grenoble without letting these threats and graffiti deter me,” Hattab said in a statement.
“Today, we hide our Jewish identity, no one wears a kippah anymore, we remove the mezuzah, we avoid being recognized,” he continued.
“Entering a synagogue wondering if there will be an attack is unprecedented and unbearable,” Hattab said, urging a nationwide stand against hatred.
In a press release, Grenoble Mayor Éric Piolle also condemned the incident, saying he was “deeply shocked” by such hatred.
“We must continue to fight this poison that is antisemitism with all our strength, without respite,” Piolle said.
