Antisemitic graffiti — since removed — sprayed on a wall in Cherbourg, France. Photo: Screenshot.

In another sign of the increasing normalization of antisemitic discourse in France, residents of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin in the northwest of the country awoke on Wednesday to graffiti poking fun at the invocation of the Nazi Holocaust in the context of anti-Jewish violence today.

The rhyming phrase “Je te tiens par le qippa/tu me tiens par la Shoah” (“I grab you by the kippa/you grab me with the Shoah”) was discovered over the weekend sprayed in large black letters on a wall on the Avenue du Paris, a main thoroughfare in the coastal town of Cherbourg. Municipal workers erased the slogan on Wednesday morning.

Benoît Arrivé, Cherbourg’s Mayor, said he had formally reported “this foul tag” to the local prosecutor’s office, urging the authorities to track down and prosecute the perpetrators.

“Antisemitism is not an opinion, it’s a crime,” Arrivé said.

Le maire de Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, @ArriveBenoit, a immédiatement « signalé ce tag immonde au Parquet de @CherbourgEnCot ».https://t.co/7y1huez6wQ

— La Presse de la Manche (@LaPresseManche) April 10, 2019