Hate crimes are on the rise in France, new data shows, as the country grapples with increased racial tension tied to the conflict in the Middle East and the unprecedented popularity of the far right heading into this summer’s EU election.
The French interior ministry reported that crimes “of a racist nature” jumped 32 percent from 2022 to 2023. Such crimes doubled in the last quarter of 2023, after the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas and the war Israel launched against the militant group in retaliation. The number of antisemitic acts quadrupled, the ministry found.
