A Holocaust memorial in Lyon, France, was defaced with the words “Free Gaza,” local officials confirmed to AFP on Saturday.
The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France, which includes Lyon, in a statement “strongly” condemned the vandalism, while expressing its “full support to the Jewish community” in the city.
“Nothing justifies this shameful act targeting this place of remembrance, inaugurated earlier this year,” added the region’s prefect, who is the French state’s top representative in the area.
The memorial was inaugurated in January to mark 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp. In a picture shared with AFP, “Free Gaza” appeared to have been scratched into the marble of the memorial plaque with a sharp object.
Jean-Olivier Viout, president of the association that created the memorial, has filed a police complaint, according to the city hall.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said France “must wake up” in the wake of the incident, the latest in a series targeting the country’s Jewish community.
In his statement, Sa’ar noted a recent diplomatic incident in which U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner was reprimanded by Paris for meddling in “internal affairs” after expressing concern over the rise.
Desecration of a Holocaust memorial in Lyon, France.
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) August 31, 2025
But when the U.S. Ambassador to France, Charles Kushner @USAmbFrance expressed his concern about the rising antisemitism there – he was rebuked for interfering in “internal affairs.”
France must wake up! https://t.co/jBerQaSu7D
Last year saw the most antisemitic physical assaults in France in more than a decade, with 106 reports documented by the SPCJ (Service de protection de la communauté juive).
Most antisemitic incidents in France are perpetrated by Muslims or people from Muslim-majority countries or backgrounds, according to the BNVCA (Bureau national de vigilance contre l’antisémitisme).
The total number of antisemitic acts recorded last year—1,570—has slightly decreased from the 1,676 reported the previous year, but the 2024 tally is still one of the highest on record. Between the years 2012 to 2022, France saw an average of 540 antisemitic incidents annually.
On Aug. 22, a 14-year-old Jewish boy said that he was assaulted in front of a synagogue in Lyon. Prosecutors opened an investigation into the alleged antisemitic assault, according to French-language media.
