Some synagogues canceled prayers as French Jews faced warnings amid violent protests

For some French Jews, Saturday's unrest brought an unsettling warning: conceal outward signs of Jewish identity and avoid gathering outside synagogues. 

One community member told Fox News Digital that some congregations had even canceled afternoon prayers on the Sabbath as demonstrations across France descended into violence.

Ahead of the protests on Saturday, he said, as a precaution, "Lots of synagogues sent out emails to their people saying, 'We're canceling Mincha on Shabbat afternoon. Please don't go out. It's going to be dangerous,'" Samuel Arrouas, a French Jewish community member who divides his time between Paris and , told Fox News Digital.

Mincha is the Jewish afternoon prayer service. Arrouas, who returned to Israel before Saturday's protests, described his shock over the messages. "I'm 40 years old. First time I heard this," he said.

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Arrouas said warnings also advised Jews against visibly wearing kippahs, traditional skullcaps, or tzitzit, ritual fringes worn by observant Jewish men. Worshipers were discouraged from lingering outside synagogues after services. "You go to prayers, and you immediately leave," he said.

Before leaving France, Arrouas said he encountered masked demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags near Paris Dauphine University.

"It's very scary," he said. "When you're Jewish and you pass in front of such a scene, the only thing you want to do is just get away."

The concerns emerged as approximately 550,000 people demonstrated across France on Oct. 17 against rising fuel prices, the cost of living and deteriorating public services, including schools. The demonstrations were masked rioters clashed with police, looted businesses and set fire to vehicles and buildings in Paris, Marseille and other cities. France's Interior Ministry reported approximately 2,400 arrests.

President Emmanuel Macron called for "calm and order" in a national address, warning against escalation. "We all feel anger and shame," he said, distinguishing protesters' "legitimate demands" from "those who destroyed, smashed and looted." He said "nothing justifies" the violence and pledged accountability. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered his resignation, which Macron refused.

Shannon Seban, the France-based executive director of European affairs at the Combat Antisemitism Movement, said the presence of Palestinian flags at demonstrations over domestic issues added to Jewish community concerns.

"We have seen Palestinian flags at demonstrations that were supposed to be about education and social demands. What does Gaza have to do with any of this?" Seban told Fox News Digital.

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"This has nothing to do with legitimate student demands anymore. We are talking about organized violence, about people who are not coming to demonstrate but to destroy, to attack our police officers and to challenge the authority of the Republic," she said.

Seban linked the violence to rhetoric urging people to "global