President Macron is not in favor of penalizing anti-Zionism, a proposal of several MPs in reaction to the recent multiplication of anti-Semitic acts in France. “I do not think penalizing anti-Zionism is a solution,” he told a joint press conference with his Georgian counterpart, Salome Zourabishvili.

 

PARIS—Following the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in the village of Quatzenheim, close to the city of Strasbourg, were some 80 gravestones were profaned and spray-painted with swastikas, French President Emmanuel Macron visited the cemetery ”to show that the Republic stands firm behind the Jewish community. ” ”They must be ashamed,” Macron told of the profanation authors.  

He promised concrete acts and punishment to fight against the series of antisemitic incidents in France.

President Macron also announced that he would be present Tuesday night at the Holocaust Memorial in Paris.

A new recent report showed that antisemitic attacks increased by 74% in 2018 ;

Gatherings against antisemitism are planned in several cities of France. On the initiative of the Socialist Party, a rally against anti-Semitism is planned in Paris Tuesday night on Place de la République. with the presence of 28 government ministers including Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.  Other gatherings are organized in Pau, Bordeaux, Brest, Nantes and Belfort among others.

Macron is not in favor of penalizing anti-Zionism, a proposal of several MPs in reaction to the recent multiplication of anti-Semitic acts in France. “I do not think penalizing anti-Zionism is a solution,” he told a joint press conference with his Georgian counterpart, Salome Zourabishvili.

Emmanuel Macron will speak on the topic Wednesday evening during the annual dinner of Crif, the umbrella representative group of French Jewish institutions, in Paris.

“I will say what we want to do,” the French president said. He confirmed he would not attend the rally scheduled for Tuesday night in Paris in response to the proliferation of anti-Semitic acts in France. “It’s a good thing that political parties (…) come together,” he said.

 

Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog denounced the desecration of the graves in the cemetery, describing it as “another severe incident which underlines the antisemitism virus attacking Europe.”

Israel’s Minister of Aliyah and Integration Yoav Gallant called on Jews to immigrate to Israel in response to the vandalization of the cemetery and other recent antisemitic incidents.

He said that the desecration of the graves was a reminder of “dark days in the history of the Jewish people,” and “strongly condemned antisemitism in France.”

He noted that he visited the French Jewish community in Paris last week which he said was “under attack from antisemitism and assimilation,” and noted that “the State of Israel is a safe national house for Jews around the world.”