In the first half of 2024, 887 incidents were recorded.
Outgoing French Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin revealed an alarming rise in anti-Semitic acts in France.
In the first half of 2024, 887 incidents were recorded, almost triple the 304 recorded in the same period last year.
Darmanin spoke at a commemorative ceremony for the victims of the Rue des Rosiers terrorist attack against a Jewish restaurant in 1982. On August 9, 1982, 6 people were killed and 22 wounded in a grenade explosion in the Jo Goldenberg restaurant, followed by a shoot-out in the historic Jewish quarter of the Marais, in central Paris.
“Anti-Semitism, which has always existed, now no longer hides. It is an insult to the dead, the wounded, the humiliated and our history,’’ said Darmanin.
He also stressed that “justice has not yet been served on this despicable and anti-Semitic crime”, referring to the fact that only one suspect in the attack is currently in custody. In February 2022, the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the indictment of the only suspect in France, the Norwegian of Palestinian origin Abu Zayed, who has in fact been incarcerated in France since December 2020.
The minister criticized some politicians, notably Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-left ” La France Insoumise” (France Unbowed), asking, “How can politicians think anti-Semitism is residual?,” he asked.
Darmanin reiterated the government’s “unwavering support for the Jews of France.’’Words today fuel the anti-Semitism that affects us all” and that today urge us to wage a cultural battle,’’ he added.
The ceremony was attended by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Doug Emhoff, husband of US vice-president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who laid one of the wreaths and lit one of the six candles in memory of the victims.
“On behalf of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the United States stands in solidarity with you,” he said, expressing his “pride in his Jewish identity”. “We cannot be silent and we must not be afraid,” he said.