French PM condemns ‘antisemitic hatred’ after memorial tree for murdered French Jew cut down

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou condemns an act of “antisemitic hatred” after a memorial tree planted in tribute to a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006 was cut down outside Paris.

On January 20, 2006, 23-year-old Ilan Halimi was kidnapped by a gang of youths and tortured in a housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux. Found three weeks later, he died on the way to the hospital.

An olive tree, planted in 2011 in Halimi’s memory, was cut down, probably with a chainsaw, overnight between Wednesday and Thursday in the northern Paris suburb of Epinay-sur-Seine, officials say.

The move has stoked fresh concerns about an increase in antisemitic acts and hate crimes against Jewish people in France.

“The tree for Ilan Halimi, a living bulwark against oblivion, has been cut down by antisemitic hatred,” Bayrou says on X.

“No crime can eradicate memory. The never-ending fight against the deadly poison of hatred is our primary duty,” he adds.

Herve Chevreau, the mayor of Epinay-sur-Seine, says he has filed a complaint.

Paris police chief Laurent Nunez condemns the “despicable act,” and vows that “everything will be done to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.”

Halimi was lured by a 17-year-old girl to a housing estate basement in the suburbs, where he was attacked and subdued with ether.

Held prisoner for ransom by a gang that believed his family was rich because he was Jewish, Halimi was tortured for 24 days before he was found naked and handcuffed to a tree near a railway track on February 13, 2006.

Halimi’s kidnapping and murder stirred debate about antisemitism in France after police initially refused to consider it a hate crime, with tens of thousands taking to the street to demand justice.

Youssouf Fofana, the head of the gang, was sentenced to life in prison.

A memorial tree planted in his memory was previously chopped down in 2019.