Tunisian Brothers Convicted for Vandalizing French Memorial for Murdered Jew, Acquitted of Antisemitism Charges

Tunisian twin brothers in France were sentenced to eight months in prison each for allegedly cutting down an olive tree planted to honor Ilan Halimi, the French Jewish man tortured to death nearly a decade ago. However, the two men were acquitted of antisemitism charges filed against them, prompting outrage among Jewish leaders in France.

On Wednesday, the brothers faced trial on charges of “aggravated destruction of property” and “desecration of a monument dedicated to the memory of the dead on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion,” offenses carrying a sentence of up to two years in prison.

The court acquitted them of committing an antisemitic hate crime, ruling that the brothers were unaware they had desecrated Halimi’s memorial.

Even though they admitted to being in the garden on the night of the incident, the brothers denied cutting down the tree and claimed they were unaware of Halimi’s story, leading the court to rule that the act was not antisemitic in nature.

Both of them were sentenced to eight months in prison, but one of them received a suspended sentence, meaning he will not serve time unless he commits another offense or violates certain conditions.

The two 19-year-old undocumented men with prior convictions for theft and violence were arrested in August for vandalizing Halimi’s memorial in the northern Paris suburb of Épinay-sur-Seine.

Investigators tracked them down after discovering two slices of watermelon left by the perpetrators at the base of the olive tree, which contained their DNA.

Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) — the main representative body of French Jews — strongly condemned the ruling, warning that it fuels antisemitism and fails to address anti-Jewish hatred.

“Turning a blind eye to antisemitism when the tree honoring Ilan Halimi is cut down is an affront to everyone who stands against hatred toward Jews,” Arfi wrote in a post on X.

“With this decision, the justice system not only fails to address antisemitism but also worsens the problem,” he continued. “The prosecution must appeal to ensure that the justice system can serve both to remedy and to deter antisemitism.”

Refuser de voir l’antisémitisme quand on abat l’arbre en hommage à Ilan Halimi, c’est faire affront à tous ceux qui luttent contre la haine des Juifs !

Avec cette décision, non seulement la justice n’apporte pas de réponse à l’antisémitisme mais elle aggrave le problème.

Le… https://t.co/yNMOCVSEbQ

— Yonathan Arfi (@Yonathan_Arfi) October 23, 2025

Halimi was abducted, held captive, and tortured in January 2006 by a gang of about 20 people in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux.

Three weeks later, Halimi was found in Essonne, south of Paris, naked, gagged, and handcuffed, with clear signs of torture and burns. The 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital.

In 2011, an olive tree was planted in Halimi’s memory. Earlier this year, in one of the latest attacks on Halimi’s memory, the memorial in the northern Paris suburb of Épinay-sur-Seine was found felled — probably with a chainsaw.

Since the attack, French authorities have been working to replant olive trees to honor Halimi’s memory.

France’s Jewish community has faced a troubling surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct.7, 2023.

Jewish leaders have repeatedly urged authorities to take swift action against the growing wave of targeted attacks and anti-Jewish hate crimes, which continue even as the US-backed ceasefire and peace plan appear to have brought the conflict in Gaza to a halt.

Last week, a 13-year-old Jewish boy was brutally assaulted by a group of teenagers in the elevator of his apartment building in Paris, prompting French authorities to open an investigation into the incident as a suspected antisemitic hate crime.

According to French media, the boy was ambushed by five teenagers — who had attended the same youth center as him — after returning home from school.

As the boy entered the elevator in his building, the attackers followed him, harassing him and grabbing at his clothing.

When he asked them to stop, the group of teenagers began to physically assault him while shouting “dirty Jew” and hurling other antisemitic insults.

After his father found him lying on the ground outside the elevator, the boy was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for spinal injuries and fitted with a neck brace.

Arfi denounced the attack, describing it as “a horrifying reflection of France’s runaway antisemitism.”

“When Jewish children are not safe in their schools or homes, it is the Republic itself that is under threat,” he wrote in a post on X.​