PARIS—Francis Kalifat, president of Crif, the umbrella representative group of French Jewish institutions, will ask for ”concrete measure” from the government to fight antisemitism and anti-Zionism, at the annual dinner of the organization Wednesday evening in Paris.
The dinner will be attended by French President Emanuel Macron and almost all members of the French government. Macron will address the dinner which sees the participation of politicians, ambassadors, heads of religious communities, leaders of Jewish associations…
The annual political event comes as a series of antisemitic incidents occurred in France these last days, including the desecration of a Jewish cemetery near Strasbourg.
‘’I will ask for are concrete measures. The government must act and take decisions. What we need is to go beyond declarations and go into action,’’ Kalifat said.
‘’Concrete measures are first and foremost the implementation of the law. We regularly see is that the law is not enforced,’’ he added.
‘’We also ask for more sanctions for the crimes of anti-Semitism. For a simple reason: very often the authors of these antisemitic insults and acts receive a reminder of the law. This is not enough anymore,’’ Kalifat stressed.
On Tuesday, more than 20,000 demonstrators gathered on Place de la Republique in Paris in response to a nationwide call for mass rallies against the continuing rise of antisemitism in France.
Silimlar rallies against antisemitism took place in several other cities in the country, including Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse and Strasbourg.
The desecration of the Jewish cemetery came following a week of antisemitic incidents, including the daubing of a Jewish-owned bakery with the slogan “Juden!” and the abuse hurled at the French-Jewish intellectual Alain Finkielkraut last weekend by protesters affiliated with the populist “yellow vest” movement.
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Jewish cemetery in Quatzenheim and later paid a visit to the Holocaust memorial in Paris where he laid a wreath.