The investigation was opened after the Collège de France filed a complaint for damage, AFP learned Friday from the Paris prosecutor’s office, and prosecutors confirmed that the tag targeted “by name” a professor who organized a conference on Palestine that was canceled and then rescheduled elsewhere.
The Collège de France indicated that it had “filed complaints twice” for the “notorious and offensive inscriptions marked in front of its entrance and along its facade, on November 5 and 14.”
“The tags, overwhelmingly, were targeted by the name of the Collège de France professor who organized the conference (Henry Laurens, Editor’s Note) starting November 5, in the name of his alleged involvement with Hamas, as well as one of his associates,” explained the institution located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.
“These messages were repeated on November 14, with the same slogans and others more specifically targeting speakers at the conference or condemning the alleged anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism at this event,” the same source added.
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A controversial conference
The investigation is ongoing and has been entrusted to the local police department, according to prosecutors.
A conference entitled “Palestine and Europe: the weight of past and contemporary dynamics” was initially scheduled to be held at the College de France, but was ultimately held on November 13 and 14 at the premises of the Center for Research and Studies in Arab Politics in Paris (Carep), one of the organizers.
The Collège de France, a prestigious institution born in the 16th century, first announced its cancellation on November 9 “in reaction to the controversy surrounding it being held”, with some describing the event as “pro-Palestinian”.
The ruling party has called for the need to ensure “security of property and society” and “calmness of events”.
The International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra) condemned the “anti-Zionist exhibition” and Crif (Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions) president Yonathan Arfi predicted that “nothing will go well at this conference”.
Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste later described the cancellation decision as a “responsible” move, and denied having “asked for an annulment”.
Tuesday afternoon, around forty people gathered in front of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research in Paris to “defend academic freedom.”
