Alish P. Joy
The Week, Aug. 4, 2025
“We cannot normalize a society where hatred towards Jews is treated as political discourse.”
France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish population, is once again wrestling with a surge in antisemitic sentiment that has alarmed political leaders, Jewish communities and rights groups alike. While antisemitism has long cast a shadow over French society, recent incidents, political decisions and disturbing trends among the youth suggest a deepening crisis that may prove more difficult to contain.
The latest flashpoint came over the weekend when the French government expelled Nour Atallah, a student from Gaza who had arrived on a scholarship to study at Sciences Po Lille. Her visa, granted under a programme overseen by Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and the French Consulate in Jerusalem, was swiftly revoked after posts from her social media accounts were discovered glorifying Adolf Hitler, calling for the execution of Jews and celebrating the October 7 Hamas attacks. The posts, now deleted, triggered a judicial inquiry and led to her deportation to Qatar.
The scandal has ignited intense scrutiny over France’s vetting procedures for Gazan students. Barrot has frozen all student evacuations from Gaza pending an internal investigation. The incident has highlighted a broader unease within France over the intersection of the Israel-Palestine conflict and domestic communal tensions.
Even before Atallah’s expulsion, antisemitic incidents were climbing at an alarming rate. In Paris alone, three synagogues and a Jewish restaurant were recently vandalised with green paint, while the city’s Holocaust memorial was defaced twice, including with anti-Israel graffiti. In Lyon, swastikas and hateful slogans appeared on classroom walls of a primary school that was also set on fire. While the blaze was quickly extinguished, the symbolism was chilling. ….SOURCE