French protests against antisemitism
Across France, thousands of people demonstrated on Tuesday (19) in protest against antisemitism. Large marches were held in Paris, Lille, Toulouse and Marseille.
247, with AFP and Humanité - Across France, thousands of people demonstrated on Tuesday (19) in protest against antisemitism. Large marches were held in Paris, Lille, Toulouse and Marseille.
In Paris, former presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy joined protesters carrying signs with the words "Enough!" and "Don't mess with my friend!"
Jewish cemetery graves were desecrated by antisemites who spray-painted blue and yellow Nazi swastikas. One grave bore the inscription "Esassisches Schwarzen Wolfe" ("the Alsatian Black Wolves"), a possible reference to an Alsatian autonomist group active in the 1970s.
The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office reported that it has opened an investigation to try to locate the perpetrators of the crime. On Sunday (17), the Public Prosecutor's Office also opened a preliminary investigation into the antisemitic insults that writer and philosopher Alain Finkielkraut suffered during a protest against the government by the "yellow vests" last weekend.
President Emmanuel Macron visited the cemetery on Tuesday following acts of vandalism that occurred overnight. "It is important for me to be here with you today," Macron told local leaders and members of the Jewish community.