In France, tens of thousands of people took to the streets against increasing anti-Semitism in the country. The main rally in Paris was overshadowed by political disputes.
More than 100,000 people took part in a mass rally against anti-Semitism amid a significant increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Paris. The “Great March” set off in the French capital behind a large banner with the motto “For the Republic, against anti-Semitism”.
Dispute over Le Pen’s participation
The right-wing populist Marine Le Pen also took part, but not the left-wing populist party La France Insoumise (LFI). They boycotted the demonstration because of Le Pen’s participation and organized a wreath-laying ceremony at the Vélodrome d’Hiver that morning, which was interrupted by Jewish demonstrators. The largest mass arrest of Jews in France took place in the former cycling hall in July 1942.
According to the Paris police headquarters, around 105,000 people joined the demonstration in the capital, and according to the Interior Ministry, around 182,000 people took to the streets against anti-Semitism across France.
In Paris alone, more than 100,000 people took to the streets.
Many politicians took part
At the head of the large demonstration in Paris were Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, the president of the Jewish umbrella organization Crif, Yonathan Arfi, and the two chairmen of the National Assembly and Senate, Yaël Braun-Pivet and Gérard Larcher whose initiative the march declined.
Macron is “in thought”.
Several former prime ministers, religious representatives and numerous ministers were also represented in the front rows. President Emmanuel Macron did not take part in the Paris rally, but assured in advance that he would be there “in spirit”. In a letter to the French published on Saturday evening by the newspaper Le Parisien, Macron condemned the “unbearable resurgence of unbridled anti-Semitism.”
“A France in which our Jewish fellow citizens are afraid is not France,” Macron wrote. “A France in which French people are afraid because of their religion or origin is not France.” The march against anti-Semitism in Paris should show that France is united “behind its values and its universalism”.
Massive increase more anti-Semitic crimes
Since the beginning of the war between the militant Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Israel, the French authorities have registered almost 1,250 anti-Semitic crimes, including insults and graffiti as well as acts of violence. Since France is home to both the largest Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe, there are concerns that violence in the Middle East will spread to the country.
In the fight against increasing anti-Semitic incidents in schools and universities, the French government announced a partnership with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This is intended to help educators with concrete advice to “prevent and combat anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred in schools,” explained the Foreign Ministry.