Rallies across France oppose anti-Semitic acts

PARIS — Rallies against antiSemitism attracted crowds of thousands in Paris and other French cities Tuesday, following a series of aggressive acts with Jewish targets, including a cemetery where about 80 gravestones were spray-painted with swastikas overnight.

In the French capital, former presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy joined a rally led by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in the Republic Plaza.

Political parties from across the spectrum participated in the nationwide rallies with the theme “That’s enough,” although Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party held a separate event.

French President Emmanuel Macron went to the Shoah Memorial, a Holocaust museum in Paris, to observe a moment of silence with parliament leaders.

“Every time a French person, because he or she is Jewish, is insulted, threatened — or worse, injured or killed — the whole Republic” is attacked, Macron said at a Paris news conference.

Hours before the rallies began, Macron visited the vandalized Jewish cemetery in Quatzenheim, a small town in the northeastern Alsace region. He said he felt shame at the sight of the defaced grave markers.

“This looks like absurd stupidity,” the French leader said, looking visibly sad and concerned.

Macron observed several moments of silence in front of the vandalized graves while local Jewish community representatives stood by.

“We will take action,” he said. France is home to the world’s largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States.

Among the incidents arousing worries of renewed anti-Semitism was a torrent of hate speech directed at Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut during a Saturday march by yellow vest protesters. Two youths were arrested Friday after they allegedly fired shots at a synagogue with an air rifle in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles, where a large Jewish community lives.

According to sociologist Danny Trom, author of “France Without Jews,” thousands of Jewish people leave France every year because of anti-Semitism.

THIBAULT CAMUS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS People gather at the Republic Square in Paris — and across the country — to protest against growing anti-Semitism in France, Tuesday.