by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

MARSEILLE, FRANCE (Worthy News) – French journalist Paul Amar has alleged that Jewish-owned businesses were deliberately targeted during violent demonstrations that swept across France on Saturday, October 17, raising concerns about growing antisemitism as thousands of French Jews increasingly choose to immigrate to Israel.

Speaking on French broadcaster CNews, Amar claimed that rioters had prepared for the demonstrations in advance, possessing addresses of government offices and Jewish merchants. According to remarks reported by the Jewish news outlet IsraJ, Amar alleged that on one street in Marseille, Jewish-owned businesses were set ablaze while Muslim-owned establishments were spared.

Although Amar’s specific allegations have not been independently verified, widespread destruction in Marseille has been confirmed. Local news outlet Destimed reported that approximately 40 businesses were looted during the unrest, while Marsactu documented smashed storefronts, fires, and masked rioters roaming the city center. Groups also forced their way into Marseille’s City Hall, damaging government property.

The Marseille violence was part of nationwide demonstrations protesting rising living costs and deteriorating public services. Reuters reported that hundreds of thousands participated in demonstrations across France, with violence erupting in Paris, Lyon, Limoges and other cities. More than 1,200 arrests and over 150 injured police officers were reported as authorities struggled to contain the unrest.

Reports of antisemitic rhetoric also emerged during the demonstrations. IsraJ reported that a protester in Paris displayed a placard declaring, “Stop gassing us, we are not Jews.” However, no independently corroborated evidence has established Amar’s allegation that Jewish-owned businesses in Marseille were systematically identified and attacked because of their owners’ religion.

French Jews Increasingly Returning to Israel

The unrest comes amid a remarkable acceleration of aliyah, the immigration of Jewish people to Israel. According to Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, approximately 3,950 French Jews immigrated to Israel during the first nine months of 2026, already exceeding the roughly 3,400 who arrived throughout 2025. French aliyah has more than tripled compared with approximately 1,100 arrivals in 2023.

The growing interest in returning to Israel was evident at an aliyah fair in Paris earlier this month, where approximately 2,000 people representing more than 600 households gathered to explore opportunities for relocating to the Jewish state. Additional immigration fairs were organized in Marseille and Lyon as Israeli officials prepared for the possibility of further increases in French aliyah.

For many French Jewish families, the decision reflects a combination of religious conviction, Zionist identity, family considerations and concerns about antisemitism. Yet the growing departure of Jews from one of Europe’s largest Jewish communities also carries profound significance for Christians who understand the modern restoration of Israel through the lens of biblical prophecy.

Prophetic Perspective: The Rise of the Hunters?

The prophet Jeremiah foretold a future gathering of Israel from the nations, describing a time when God would bring the Jewish people back to the land promised to their fathers. In Jeremiah 16:14–16, the Lord declares that the coming restoration would become so significant that it would rival the memory of Israel’s original Exodus from Egypt.

Then comes a striking declaration: “Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.” — Jeremiah 16:16 (KJV)

Some Christian prophecy teachers interpret the fishermen as those who lovingly encourage Jewish people to return to their ancestral homeland, while the hunters represent persecution and hostility that compel them to leave the nations. Although Jeremiah’s immediate context also addresses divine judgment, this prophetic understanding sees the gathering of Israel as unfolding through both the attraction of Zion and the increasing pressures of the Diaspora.

Against that backdrop, the surge in French aliyah and continuing concerns about antisemitism raise a sobering prophetic question: Are the fishermen increasingly being followed by the hunters? Amar’s allegations remain unverified, and current events cannot independently establish the fulfillment of prophecy. Nevertheless, as thousands of Jewish families leave France for Israel, the ancient promises of Jeremiah concerning the restoration of the Jewish people continue to resonate.

Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.