Marseille authorities deny claims of targeted attacks on Jewish businesses

The Bouches-du-Rhône police prefecture and the Marseille-Provence Representative Council of Jewish Institutions (Crif) have denied social media rumors alleging that looters specifically targeted Jewish-owned businesses during unrest in Marseille on October 17.

Authorities stated that businesses were looted without religious distinction. Bruno Benjamin, president of Crif Marseille-Provence, noted that shops belonging to Muslim, Christian, and Jewish community members were all affected by the vandalism. He emphasized that there is no evidence to support claims that Muslim-owned businesses were spared or that Jewish businesses were systematically singled out.

The denials follow viral claims made by journalist Paul Amar on CNews, who suggested that looters possessed specific addresses of Jewish merchants and that all Jewish-owned shops in a particular street had been burned while Muslim-owned shops were not. The Service de protection de la communauté juive (SPCJ) also called for prudence and responsibility, urging the public not to relay unverified information regarding the religious motivations of the vandals.