Thousands rally against anti-Semitism in France after vandalism of Jewish cemetery
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People attend a rally to protest against anti-semitism at the Place de la Republique in Paris, France, on Feb 19, 2019.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
PARIS (NYTIMES) - Thousands rallied against anti-Semitism in Paris on Tuesday (Feb 19) night, summoned by France's major political parties, the country's Jewish organisations, and by a sharp spike in anti-Semitic incidents, including the desecration of a Jewish cemetery the night before.
That act of vandalism drew France's president to a small village in the north-east, hours before huge crowds filled one of the capital's historic squares, Place de la République, and stood silently in the winter twilight for brief remarks by a rabbi and a rendition of the national anthem.
At the square, many said they had come because of a new, unaccustomed fear.
"Fear in my gut. With all that's going on," said Ms Joelle Malachane, a retired office worker at the rally with her daughter. "I'm scared for the future of the Jews. It's not easy being a Jew now."
Almost no one at the rally wore the colours of yellow-vest anti-government protesters, whose movement has been tainted in recent weeks by an overlay of anti-Semitism that appears rooted in historic anti-Jewish feelings persistent in France since at least the 19th century.
French news reports estimated Tuesday night's crowd at 20,000 people, and Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, several former presidents, and many of the country's leading politicians attended.
Thousands more rallied against the surge in anti-Semitism at smaller gatherings elsewhere in France.
The rallies were planned partly as a response to the Interior Ministry's announcement last week of a 74 per cent rise in anti-Semitic incidents in 2018.
But Tuesday's gathering gained urgency after a spate of recent, widely publicised anti-Semitic incidents, some of them linked to the yellow vest marches.
On Saturday, one of the country's leading literary figures, critic Alain Finkielkraut, was the target of anti-Semitic insults at the edges of a yellow vest protest, an episode that provoked an angry reaction from President Emmanuel Macron.
Two days later, a centuries-old Jewish cemetery in the small village of Quatzenheim, in north-eastern France, was vandalised in the night. Some 96 tombs were spray-painted with blue swastikas.
On Tuesday, Mr Macron, wearing a skullcap, visited the village and toured the desecrated tombs, condemning the "absurd stupidity" of the damage.
"We will punish them. We will take actions that are strong and clear," he said.
