France Says Russian Intelligence Behind Antisemitic Graffiti Campaign

In November, soon after the Hamas terror attack of Oct.7 in southern Israel, mysterious graffiti appeared in the capital of France and in surrounding Paris suburbs. 

More than 60Jewish stars had been spray-painted, which began being observed in late October. They were all identical, and seemed connected to the ongoing war in Gaza, given some of them were accompanies by written slogans including, "From the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River, Palestine will be free."

It was widely interpreted as a threat to Jewish people. Subsequently, a Moldovan couple was arrested and they were alleged to have ties to a "pro-Russian" Moldovan intermediary.

But contradictions abounded, seen in the fact that many news articles of the time include statements like the following buried deep within them: "Investigators have said they aren't convinced the graffiti can be classed as antisemitic, but they are concerned about possible Russian meddling at such a sensitive time."

Additionally, the other problem with being quick to seize on this narrative is that France has a huge population of Muslims - some of which have made no secret of their disdain for Jews in recent protests. The immense civilian death toll in Gaza has also outraged young demonstrators all over Europe. 

But on Friday the AFP is reporting that France's international security service DGSI believes this was all the work of Russia's FSB, which is a successor agency to the Soviet KGB: "France believes that Russia's security service FSB was behind a campaign in which Star of David graffiti were daubed on buildings in and around Paris last autumn, a French source said Friday."

According to the fresh report: 

In a recent note seen by AFP on Friday, the DGSI urged French police forces to report even "weak signs" of potential Russian "subversion", such as vandalism, graffiti, posters, stickers and flyers, which are usually aimed at "amplifying divisions" in French society.

Also, the same report says "Le Monde said the alleged FSB operation was part of a wider disinformation campaign that also targeted Poland, Spain, Germany, Romania and Austria."

While anything is possible, the problem with being quick to seize on this narrative is that France has a huge population of Muslims - some of which have made no secret of their disdain for Jews in recent protests. The immense civilian death toll in Gaza has also outraged young demonstrators all over Europe. If the Russians were behind the Paris graffiti, one big question would be, why?

Much of the West has for years been gripped by hysteria over Russian meddling. In the popular imagination, Putin! or his intelligence agents are lurking behind every corner, especially when something bad, disruptive, or inexplicable happens. Lack of any smoking gun evidence presented to to the public means these allegations should be approached with the necessary skepticism.