“Very simple alert buttons” to alert in the event of “an intrusion, an attempted attack, a terrorist act” will be put in place in the dozen Jewish establishments in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, declared during a press conference this Thursday the president (LR) of the Regional Council, Laurent Wauquiez.
Referring to the increase in anti-Semitic acts since the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, the elected official stressed that “behind, there are children who go to school in fear, there are families who give up taking their children at school. These are school outings and sports outings that are canceled.” The prefect of Rhône, Fabienne Buccio, specified that 46 anti-Semitic acts had been recorded in the department over the past month.
355 “connected” and “not visible” buttons
Some 355 “connected” and “non-visible” buttons, operating on the same principle as those distributed since 2021 to report violence against women, will be given to directors and teachers of the establishments in question, linked to “a security service of the community” which will centralize before transmitting to law enforcement. In a press release, the region specified that 900 copies had been ordered.
Ultimately, the system should be directly linked “to police stations and the gendarmerie”, wishes Laurent Wauquiez, who also announced the provision of minibuses for school trips for students from these establishments.
Equipped with different functionalities, these buttons allow, “according to needs, to send an SMS, the geolocation of the user, to launch an emergency call or even to trigger a recording for the capture of material elements” in a situation of danger. The phone application also provides a map which lists all access to first aid nearby (police and gendarmerie stations, hospitals).
A march against anti-Semitism on Sunday
On November 5, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, affirmed on France 2 that anti-Semitic acts had “exploded” in France since October 7, with 1,040 acts recorded. According to the latter, 486 people were arrested for anti-Semitic acts, including “102 foreigners”.
This coming Sunday, as in other large cities, a march against anti-Semitism is organized in Paris by the presidents of the National Assembly and the Senate, in order to protest against the increase in anti-Semitic acts in the territory.