**At the end of October, Star of David graffiti suddenly appeared on the walls of houses in Paris, which many saw as an anti-Semitic action. However, investigators believe a completely different motive is more likely.**
What a shock these images were. On the morning of October 31, Stars of David were suddenly emblazoned on the walls of apartment buildings, stores and banks in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. About sixty in total, all exactly the same size, obviously sprayed using the same stencil. The images went around the world and were shared millions of times on social media. They awakened the trauma of dark times.
In the first, reflexive interpretation, this night operation was a further sign that anti-Semitism was growing dangerously as a result of the war in the Middle East, especially in France, the European country with the largest Jewish and Muslim communities. It looked as if the houses and stores were marked.
The broadcasters sent reporters to the 14th district, who simply held their microphones up to passers-by. Some of them cried. “Is it starting again now?” asked a woman whose parents had been killed in a concentration camp, then she lost her voice. France’s Minister of the Interior, the always very resolute Gérald Darmanin, was also interviewed. He said that he would not rest until the people who had done this were found. If they were foreigners, he would expel them from the country.
**The investigators had doubts**
Only the investigators were noticeably reluctant to give a clear interpretation from the outset – and rightly so, as it now turns out.
Several points struck them as questionable. Firstly, the spray-painted Stars of David were not yellow, but blue, a shade similar to one of Israel’s national colors. Could it be, they asked, that the tags had no anti-Semitic background at all, but on the contrary were intended as a declaration of support for Israel? And, secondly, the walls seemed to have been chosen at random, they were not about houses where Jewish people were known to live or work.
Well, it was probably all different, more complex. On October 27, the police had already arrested a young couple from Moldova for painting a Star of David on a wall in the 10th arrondissement. They told investigators that someone from Russia had given them the job and paid them a few hundred euros. They had saved the proof on their cell phone. They live in France without papers and are now being deported.
According to Le Monde, the domestic intelligence service assumes that the October 31 attack was directed by the same Russians. Security camera footage from the 14th arrondissement again shows a young couple, apparently also from Moldova, spray-painting. A third person photographs the spray-painted house walls. They left the country immediately after this operation. The photos were already circulating on the relevant profiles on Facebook, X and Telegram at the time. Like wildfire.
Is Moscow attempting a new manoeuvre to destabilize the West, this time fuelling political animosities in an already tense climate? The French investigators think just that. The Stars of David were only up for a few hours before the municipal cleaning service washed them off. But by then they had already burned themselves into people’s minds.
We all know the “Don’t try this at home” from youtube videos.
Russia is trying this first at home.
There was a tweet here some weeks ago, also someone painting a Star of David on the wall of a shop, but this was from Russia.
Another example? From May this year:
“The doctor warned about the risk of an outbreak of smallpox, whooping cough and diphtheria in the Russian Federation” https://govoritmoskva-ru.translate.goog/news/365817/?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
“… “Measles is on everyone’s lips now. This is all the result of an anti-vaccination campaign by pseudo-experts who do not have medical or any other education. …”
I think there is an underestimated export from Russia.
I’d put money on Marine Le Pen’s supporters involvement
3 comments
*translation*
**At the end of October, Star of David graffiti suddenly appeared on the walls of houses in Paris, which many saw as an anti-Semitic action. However, investigators believe a completely different motive is more likely.**
What a shock these images were. On the morning of October 31, Stars of David were suddenly emblazoned on the walls of apartment buildings, stores and banks in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. About sixty in total, all exactly the same size, obviously sprayed using the same stencil. The images went around the world and were shared millions of times on social media. They awakened the trauma of dark times.
In the first, reflexive interpretation, this night operation was a further sign that anti-Semitism was growing dangerously as a result of the war in the Middle East, especially in France, the European country with the largest Jewish and Muslim communities. It looked as if the houses and stores were marked.
The broadcasters sent reporters to the 14th district, who simply held their microphones up to passers-by. Some of them cried. “Is it starting again now?” asked a woman whose parents had been killed in a concentration camp, then she lost her voice. France’s Minister of the Interior, the always very resolute Gérald Darmanin, was also interviewed. He said that he would not rest until the people who had done this were found. If they were foreigners, he would expel them from the country.
**The investigators had doubts**
Only the investigators were noticeably reluctant to give a clear interpretation from the outset – and rightly so, as it now turns out.
Several points struck them as questionable. Firstly, the spray-painted Stars of David were not yellow, but blue, a shade similar to one of Israel’s national colors. Could it be, they asked, that the tags had no anti-Semitic background at all, but on the contrary were intended as a declaration of support for Israel? And, secondly, the walls seemed to have been chosen at random, they were not about houses where Jewish people were known to live or work.
Well, it was probably all different, more complex. On October 27, the police had already arrested a young couple from Moldova for painting a Star of David on a wall in the 10th arrondissement. They told investigators that someone from Russia had given them the job and paid them a few hundred euros. They had saved the proof on their cell phone. They live in France without papers and are now being deported.
According to Le Monde, the domestic intelligence service assumes that the October 31 attack was directed by the same Russians. Security camera footage from the 14th arrondissement again shows a young couple, apparently also from Moldova, spray-painting. A third person photographs the spray-painted house walls. They left the country immediately after this operation. The photos were already circulating on the relevant profiles on Facebook, X and Telegram at the time. Like wildfire.
Is Moscow attempting a new manoeuvre to destabilize the West, this time fuelling political animosities in an already tense climate? The French investigators think just that. The Stars of David were only up for a few hours before the municipal cleaning service washed them off. But by then they had already burned themselves into people’s minds.
We all know the “Don’t try this at home” from youtube videos.
Russia is trying this first at home.
There was a tweet here some weeks ago, also someone painting a Star of David on the wall of a shop, but this was from Russia.
Another example? From May this year:
“The doctor warned about the risk of an outbreak of smallpox, whooping cough and diphtheria in the Russian Federation”
https://govoritmoskva-ru.translate.goog/news/365817/?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
“… “Measles is on everyone’s lips now. This is all the result of an anti-vaccination campaign by pseudo-experts who do not have medical or any other education. …”
I think there is an underestimated export from Russia.
I’d put money on Marine Le Pen’s supporters involvement