France promises crackdown on anti-semitism

Macron changes definition and promises strong measures

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced new measures to combat the rise of anti-Semitism in the country, saying that France needed to draw "new red lines" against intolerance.

Speaking at the annual dinner of France's Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions, also known as CRIF, Macron announced plans for a bill to combat online hate speech and called for the dissolution of "three extremist right-wing groups", Bastion Social, Blood and Honour Hexagone and Combat 18, which he said fuelled hatred and promoted discrimination.

In a speech made the day after nationwide protests against a spate of hate crimes, he also said that France would define anti-Zionism, the denial of the state of Israel's right to exist, as a form of anti-Semitism.

"Anti-Zionism is one of the modern forms of anti-Semitism," said Macron. "This is why I'm confirming that France will put forward the definition of anti-Semitism as drawn by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance."

The Zionist movement is a political group founded by Austro-Hungarian writer Theodore Herzl in the late 19th century, proposing a Jewish state on the land that is now the modern state of Israel. Under French law, anti-Semitism, which means hostility to or prejudice against Jews, is considered a crime like other forms of discrimination.

France has witnessed a series of anti-Semitic attacks in the past few months, including nearly 100 graves at a Jewish cemetery in eastern France being desecrated with swastikas on Tuesday. The number of anti-Semitic crimes reported in 2018 increased by more than 70 percent compared to 2017.

"We shall act, we shall pass laws, we shall punish," Macron said when he visited the Jewish cemetery after the accident. "Those who did this are not worthy of the Republic."

Tens of thousands of people have taken part in recent protests against anti-Semitism. Dozens more rallies are also scheduled to take place across France, which is home to the world's largest Jewish population outside of Israel and the United States.

"Macron's main message was to name the evil, penalize it and to educate against hate," said France's international news channel, France 24.

He also said he would also urge his education minister to look at how Jewish children are "too often" forced to leave public schooling as a result of racism and harassment.

Contact the writer at yandongjie@chinadaily.com.cn