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The NEW Anti-Semitism
...an End Time Factor?
Wave of Anti-Semitism
Threatens France
Yahoo News
PARIS (Reuters) - A new wave of anti-Semitism in France is an extremely
worrying phenomenon that poses a threat to the fabric of French society,
according to a government report published Tuesday.
It said anti-Semitism in France was not restricted to people of Arab
origin, Muslims and the far right, and proposed keeping a closer watch
on racism in the media and schools and creating a national watchdog to
monitor anti-Semitism.
"The new wave of anti-Semitic acts in the last few years is undeniable.
The threats and violence against French Jews are an obvious, new and
extremely worrying social factor," said the 50-page report, drawn up by
writer Jean-Christophe Rufin.
"Anti-Semitism and racism are not marginal subjects, even less so are
they communal matters -- they are at the heart of the evolution of our
society," he said.
"The fate of liberty and equality are being played out today on the
field of fraternity," he added, alluding to the three values espoused by
the French revolution in 1789 and cherished by France since then.
Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin hailed the report, which he had
ordered, as a sign of France's determination to crack down on
anti-Semitism.
But he acknowledged racist and anti-Semitic crimes had risen in the
first nine months of 2004 -- even though the rate had fallen in the
third quarter -- with 123 racist acts and 166 anti-Semitic acts
reported.
"In both cases this is more than for the whole of 2003," Villepin said.
"Each of us must be extremely vigilant."
Officials from President Jacques Chirac downwards have called for more
efforts to stop racism, intolerance and anti-Semitism in France.
The rise in anti-Semitic crime is often put down to tension between
France's 600,000 Jews and 5 million Muslims, but the report identified
other causes and found evidence of anti-Semitism among a variety of
French people.
Although Muslim North African immigrants are often blamed for
anti-Semitic acts, such crimes are also carried out by people on the
margins of society, it said.
"The new anti-Semitism seems more heterogeneous than believed by those
who see it as a problem specifically among people of Maghreb (North
African) origin and as a natural consequence of (violent) events in the
Middle East," it said.
"What we must convince the French people of is that anti-Semitism is the
common enemy of Jews and the Republic (of France)."
The report said the police should be informed of serious racist or
anti-Semitic incidents in schools and a series of legislative and
judicial measures to "defend the democratic political system which alone
can protect all citizens equally."
It said data published on anti-Semitic acts should be clear and should
compare the situation in France with other countries.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon caused a row earlier this year by
urging French Jews to emigrate to Israel to escape what he called the
wildest anti-Semitism. Sharon later ended the spat by praising France
for fighting anti-Semitism.
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