A Holocaust memorial in the city of Lyon was desecrated with the graffiti “Free Gaza.”
By Rachel Avraham
A Holocaust memorial in the city of Lyon was desecrated on August 30 with the words “Free Gaza” inscribed onto it. A photo city officials shared with AFP showed the inscription apparently scratched with a sharp object into the black marble of a plaque on the monument.
“The vandalism of the Holocaust Memorial in Lyon is an intolerable act. I condemn it and express my full solidarity with memory associations, survivors and their descendants. The perpetrators will be sought and prosecuted. Lyon stands firm against hatred, antisemitism and racism,” the city’s mayor, Gregory Doucet, wrote in a statement sent to AFP.
Yonathan Arfi, president of CRIF (Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions), called the vandalism “disgusting” and urged the public to honor the memory of Holocaust victims.
The memorial had only been inaugurated this January during a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. “The fact that this inscription was made on a Holocaust memorial clearly constitutes an antisemitic act,” a city hall official told AFP. According to I24 News, the official also said the municipality had the vandalism quickly removed.
I24 News reported that Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar took to X after the incident, calling out France’s growing rate of antisemitic incidents and its negative reaction to the US Ambassador’s ‘unacceptable’ letter last week about the issue.
“Desecration of a Holocaust memorial in Lyon, France. But when the US Ambassador to France, Charles Kushner expressed his concern about the rising antisemitism there – he was rebuked for interfering in ‘internal affairs,'” he wrote in his post.
According to I24 News, Israel’s Minister of Immigration and Absorption, Ofir Sofer, also said in response to the vandalism, “The French government, which is considering awarding a prize for terrorism in the form of a Palestinian state and is offended by the American ambassador’s interference in its internal affairs, must first and foremost fight anti-Semitism directed against its Jewish citizens. Anti-Semitism that has not been seen for decades.”
Antisemitic incidents in France remain a serious concern. In the first half of 2025, the number of such acts fell by 27% compared to the same period in 2024, yet still remained significantly higher than in 2023. In 2024, 1,570 antisemitic incidents were recorded nationwide, compared to 1,676 in 2023.
Similar incidents have taken place elsewhere. In May 2024, Paris’ “Righteous Wall” (which honors non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust) was defaced with red handprints. President Emmanuel Macron denounced the act as antisemitism “inciting hatred.”
The defacement of the Holocaust memorial is not merely an act of vandalism against a monument — it is a disrespect to historical memory, to the victims of genocide, and to humanity itself. French officials and Jewish organizations have strongly condemned the act and pledged legal measures to ensure such offenses are not repeated.
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