Paris police ramp up security

Govt seeks to restrain anti-Semitic radicals

PARIS, July 23, (Agencies): Police in Paris ramped up security ahead of a fresh protest Wednesday days after similar rallies against the Israeli offensive in Gaza descended into violence and looting.

The government, which had banned the prior protests seeking to restrain what it called anti-Semitic radicals, authorised Wednesday’s march after its organisers gave “security guarantees”, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said.

A police source said more than 1,000 undercover and uniformed officers would be deployed along the march route, which ends in the upscale Invalides area where several government ministries are located.

In addition to the Paris event, staged by a coalition of pro-Palestinian and leftwing groups, demonstrations were also to be held Wednesday in the cities of Lyon, Toulouse, Lille and Reims.

President Francois Hollande issued a reminder to protesters that the “responsibility of the state, the government and the president is to ensure that order is respected.”

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve meanwhile warned that anyone caught shouting “Death to the Jews!” or burning an Israeli flag during the marches would be arrested.

Terrorist

But Cazeneuve also denounced the Jewish Defence League — deemed a “right-wing terrorist group” by the FBI — whose members clashed with proPalestinian supporters in an earlier Paris demonstration.

Banned rallies took place anyway at the weekend in Paris and its suburb town of Sarcelles, and ended in clashes, with police firing tear gas and arresting scores of protesters.

In Sarcelles, several Jewish businesses were looted, prompting Roger Cukierman, the head of the country’s main CRIF Jewish grouping, to voice fears of “pogroms”.

On Tuesday, four men were sentenced to between three and six months in prison for their role in the Sarcelles violence, and three others were given between

As a result, there is a severe lack of housing facilities and half of all seekers have to fend for themselves, resorting to living in slums, squats or sleeping rough.

Processing these asylum requests takes an average of two years, and the bill aims to shorten this to nine months by 2017, giving authorities dealing with the cases more funding and staff. three and five months suspended jail sentences for their involvement in the Paris unrest.

The main organiser of Wednesday’s protest, the National Collective for Just and Durable Peace between Israelis and Palestinians, hailed the decision to let the demonstration go ahead.

“It’s a victory for democracy and freedom of expression,” said Taoufiq Tahani, president of the France-Palestine Solidarity Assocation that is part of the collective that called the rally.

Another pro-Palestinian demonstration ih Paris is planned for Saturday, and authorities have not yet said whether it will be allowed to proceed.

The Israeli-Palestinian offensive has stirred up huge passions in France — home to the largest Muslim and Jewish communities in western Europe with around five million Muslims and half a million Jews.

Valls, who was a tough-talking interior minister until his promotion this year in a cabinet reshuffle, has blamed extremist groups for the violence last week.

He told the Le Parisien daily certain unspecified “networks and extremist groups are trying to capitalise on this (Israeli offensive) by riding on sentiments of anti-Semitism and hatred” and using it “to foment disorder”.

Responding to Cukierman’s comments over the risk of pogroms, Valls said there was “very big concern” among Jews in France, particularly after high-profile anti-Semitic attacks such as the May shooting in Brussels’ Jewish Museum.

French political parties have broadly hailed the decision to authorise Wednesday’s march.

Four groups helping to organise the rally — the influential CGT union and three leftist parties — are also deploying people during the rally to ensure there is no violence.

Meanwhile, the German government reassured Jews living in Germany that they should feel safe in the face of antisemitic chants and threats heard at some of the protests against Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza, and said such behaviour would not be tolerated.

“We must reject unjustified requests so that those who legitimately claim asylum can rapidly benefit from French protection,” Cazeneuve said in the interview.

The immigration bill, meanwhile, seeks to attract more qualified people among the 200,000 non-EU foreigners that France admits legally every year. (AFP)

Spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel Georg Streiter told a news conference on Wednesday: “The chancellor and the government are happy to see the revival of Jewish life in Germany and will continue to campaign for the security of Jewish citizens.”

Protests

Streiter, said Germany would not tolerate aggression against the resurgent Jewish population, after protests against the Israeli offensive in Gaza where violent slogans were used.

“The chancellor and the entire German government condemn the anti-Semitic remarks made at pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli demonstrations in Germany in the strongest terms,” Streiter told reporters.

“These outbursts are an attack on freedom and tolerance and an attempt to shake the foundations of our free and democratic system. We cannot and will not tolerate this.”

Streiter said any violence against Jewish people or institutions would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

“The chancellor and the entire government welcome the revival of Jewish life in Germany and will continue to stand up for the security of Jewish citizens,” he said. He added that the German government saw Israel as a “friend and partner” and would work with “all its strength” to maintain those ties.

Meanwhile German President Joachim Gauck telephoned the leader of the country’s 200,000-strong Jewish community, Dieter Graumann, to discuss “dreadful anti-Semitic incidents” in recent days.

Graumann said in a statement that Gauck told him he took Jewish fears “very seriously”.

“Many members of our community are very shaken, worried and absolutely shocked by the worst anti-Jewish slogans that some out-of-control crowds have shouted, calling for Jews to be ‘gassed’, ‘burned’ and ‘slaughtered’,” Graumann said.

He said Gauck and several other officials had assured Jews that they are “welcome and not alone”. Vote on plan to redraw map: French lawmakers were set to vote Wednesday on a controversial redrawing of the map of France, cutting the country’s regions from 22 to 13 in a plan that has sparked local squabbling.

The idea, which aims to trim costs and improve efficiency, dates back decades but has never been implemented, partly because divisive rows spring up every time it is considered.

Only three regions will be unaffected by the redrawing of the map: the Ile de France region that encompasses Paris and its surrounding areas, Provence-AlpesCote d’Azur around Marseille and the island of Corsica. The bill, which has already been rejected by the Senate, is likely to be passed by a large majority in the National Assembly. (AFP) 5 children among dead: Five children aged 12 to 14 and their driver were killed when the minibus they were travelling in crashed headlong into an incoming truck, a local prosecutor said Wednesday, revising an earlier toll.

“Five children died... three girls and two boys,” Alex Perrin told AFP, adding that their 29-year-old driver had also perished in the accident on Tuesday afternoon near Courteranges village in central France.

Perrin had previously said that four children were killed, as was the driver and another 20-year-old man, but he told AFP he had got the latter victim’s age wrong. (AFP)