French Court Sentences Two Antisemites for Nazi Salutes Outside Synagogue in Sarcelles

Two 19-year-old antisemitic youths were convicted in a French court for filming themselves performing Nazi salutes outside a synagogue in Sarcelles, a northern suburb of Paris. The incident occurred at 11 p.m. last Sunday and was captured on security cameras and a mobile phone. The court in Bontouais, Val-d'Oise department, sentenced the Russian national among them to eight months of actual imprisonment and permanent expulsion from France. His accomplice, a Ukrainian-born French citizen, received a six-month prison sentence after a fast-track trial. The two were arrested three days after the event in Sarcelles, along with a third suspect whose identity remains unknown. Local police located them following reports from neighbors who witnessed their actions near a memorial dedicated to victims of the 2012 Toulouse attacks by Mohamed Merah. Moiz Kahlon, president of the Jewish community in Sarcelles, welcomed the verdict, calling it "the only way to confront the wave of antisemitism across France." Sarcelles hosts a large Jewish community, which has reported a rise in antisemitic incidents in recent years, especially following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war.