Macron Inaugurates Dreyfus Statue in Paris on Exoneration Anniversary

French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated a statue honoring Alfred Dreyfus outside the Palace of Justice in Paris on Sunday. The ceremony marked 120 years since the Court of Cassation exonerated Dreyfus of treason charges on July 12, 1906. Macron declared July 12 a national day of commemoration of Dreyfus’ innocence beginning this year.

Dreyfus, a Jewish army captain, was convicted in 1894 after being falsely accused of passing military secrets to Germany and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was cleared of all charges in 1906, rejoined the army, served in World War I and died in 1935.

Hours before the ceremony, police evacuated approximately 300 people from the Paris suburb of Sarcelles after intelligence services identified a suspicious vehicle containing a military weapon near a synagogue.

Prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation. Dreyfus’ 99-year-old grandson Charles attended the event. “I must sadly admit that I would not have imagined, at my age, seeing antisemitism resurface with such virulence in our country,” he said.

His sorrow was tempered by what he called “the deep joy” at seeing the statue, which depicts Dreyfus proudly wielding a broken sword. France is home to Europe’s largest Jewish population and recorded a surge in antisemitic acts, including threats, vandalism and physical violence, after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S.

Ambassador to France Charles Kushner have accused Macron of fueling antisemitism by deciding to recognize Palestine in 2025. Macron decried a resurgence of the “demons of antisemitism” that have darkened France’s past and present.