A wave of anti-Semitism shakes France | More than …

From Paris

Antisemitism is a seed of evil that does not dry up. France has been confronted in recent weeks with several anti-Semitic expressions that have led to a broad mobilization of citizenship and the political clbad. The actual reading of these racist acts is complex. Graffiti, anti-Semitic graffiti, insults and various profanations of Jewish burials have marked the agenda of a country where, according to statistics, episodes against Jews have increased by 74% in 2018. During the first half in February, swastikas painted blue and yellow appeared disfigured in 96 graves of the Jewish cemetery of Quatzenheim, not far from Strasbourg (Alsace). Previously, in Paris, the portraits of the late French political leader and also the survivor of the Holocaust, Simone Veil, were covered with swastikas. Thursday, February 21, anti-Semitic inscriptions such as "Jews on the outside" appeared painted on the door of a house in the 14th arrondissement of the French capital. However, it is a group of radicals and infiltrators who have maneuvered in the movement of yellow vests, which has tarnished the French yellow insurrection with accusations of anti-Semitism and generate a national mobilization against anti-Semitism .

The most controversial point occurred at the fourteenth Paris demonstration of yellow vests. A group of demonstrators met in the street one of the most reactionary philosophers and contempt of the country before the Muslims, Alain Finkielkraut, who was insulted by cries of the type "Zionist Pig", "France is ours "," on the outside ". Touching an intellectual in France, even an exacerbated anti-Islam, blinded by white supremacy like Finkielkraut and defined as a "pbadionate advocate of national identity" is tantamount to meddling with the sacred. The Paris prosecutor's office opened an inquiry, arrested one of the attackers and, immediately afterwards, a large demonstration against anti-Semitism took place in Paris, which brought together more than 20,000 people in the Place de la République in the presence of all the political bow, left and right, and where the far right of Marine Le Pen was not invited by the obvious link of his party with anti-Semitism. According to the French authorities, this resurgence of anti-Semitism corresponds to the reactivation of the historical anti-Semitism of far-right groups and not to the growing influence, as in recent years, of the anti-Semitism. Islam on various sectors of the population of Arab and Muslim origin. . The small far-right groups took advantage of the wide visibility of the yellow vests to amplify their racism laymen. With this, they achieved several results: on the one hand, expel from the legitimate public space that they had conquered the yellow jackets and, consequently, reduce their adhesions: install in society a theme which is not at the heart of contemporary racial crises, because what reigns anti-Muslim racism: on the other hand, mobilize the public authorities with new laws. At a meeting with the representatives of the CRIF (Council of Representatives of the Jewish Institutions of France), the French president, Emmanuel Macron, is committed to "pbad laws and punish". Among the measures mentioned by the Head of State, a very controversial initiative aims to broaden "the definition of anti-Semitism by integrating certain aspects of anti-Zionism". This idea of ​​accepting that "anti-Zionism is one of the modern forms of anti-Semitism" (Emmanuel Macron) is one of the pillars of the action led by the International Alliance for the Remembrance of the Holocaust. The president also announced that a law will be proposed to combat hate on the internet as well as preparing a report on why many Jewish children leave schools in the neighborhoods where they reside. France is currently the country of Europe with the largest percentage of the Jewish population, about 700,000 people. Although this figure is less than 1% of the population, Jews are subject to half of the racist acts committed in the country. French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said between 2017 and 2018, antisemitic acts went from 311 to 541. These figures are far from those recorded in 1999 (82 attacks) and also the highlight of the year. year 2004, with 974. Catholic and reactionary nationalism as well as some philonazi tendencies have always been radical adepts of anti-Semitism. For much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the far right flourished with its antisemitic rhetoric. In the 21st century, it has changed the enemy and targeted Arabs and Muslims, a type of immigration that is now the main electoral argument. The anti-Semitism of the 21st century seems to be reactivated with the reactionaries of previous centuries. This was summed up in the evening Le Monde Frédéric Potier, head of the interministerial delegation of the fight against racism, anti-Semitism and anti-LGBT hatred. The official said that this "ultra right-wing far right and identity advocate" had resurfaced and that she "no longer hesitates to take action." The yellow vests and the wait that they created offered antisemitic cenacles an unexpected soundboard.