The riots in France have also reached Jewish religious sites, with rioters vandalizing a synagogue in Paris' 19th arrondissement, or district. Footage released Sunday by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) showed extensive damage inside the synagogue, including overturned tables and equipment scattered throughout the building.
"When chaos and violence take over the streets, synagogues are the first to suffer," said Sacha Roytman, CEO of CAM. "The desecration of the synagogue in Paris is a clear warning sign: What begins against Jews never stops there."
synagogue vandalized during riots in France
(Video: Movement to Combat Antisemitism)
French authorities are continuing to assess the destruction across cities nationwide following a day of widespread violence in which crowds of masked rioters attacked police officers and innocent bystanders, set fire to dozens of government buildings and looted hundreds of stores.
The violence erupted following mass demonstrations Saturday against the rising cost of living and deteriorating public services, which drew hundreds of thousands of protesters. Right-wing figures in France and abroad are now blaming not only the far left, which they accuse of fueling the unrest, allegedly as a show of force ahead of next year's presidential election, but also immigrants and their descendants, many of whom took part in the riots.
Synagogue vandalized in riots in France
(Photo: Movement to Combat Antisemitism)
In Paris alone, hundreds of stores were reportedly looted. Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said that "entire streets were systematically destroyed." The French newspaper Le Parisien described scenes of widespread destruction in several parts of the capital, reporting that in the Les Halles area of the 1st arrondissement, rioters "spared no store."