Protest leads to French probe of anti-semitic taunts

PARIS — An upsurge in anti-semitism in France reached a climax this weekend with a torrent of hate speech directed at a distinguished philosopher during a march of yellow vest protesters, adding to questions about the radicalized fringes of the movement hidden within French society and troubling the nation.

Paris judicial authorities opened an investigation Sunday into anti-semitic remarks hurled at Alain Finkielkraut a day earlier as he accompanied his mother-in-law to her Left Bank home in Paris.

The investigation is being conducted into “public insult based on origin, ethnicity, nationality, race or religion” after a band of men in the protest march raged at Finkielkraut. “Go back to Tel Aviv,” “Zionist” and “France is our land” were among the insults captured on video.

The assault came days after the government said anti-semitic incidents in France soared last year in what Interior Minister Christophe Castaner called a “poison” spreading “like a venom” and “rotting minds.”

The scene with Finkielkraut was a vicious verbal interlude as thousands of protesters made their way through Paris for the 14th consecutive Saturday of demonstrations by the yellow vest movement. The movement has become the top domestic challenge for President Emmanuel Macron, who is accused by demonstrators of favoring the haves over have-nots.

Finkielkraut, a member of the prestigious Academie Francaise, said in two TV interviews Sunday that he is worried by the changing nature of the movement, which he initially supported.

But he told French television station LCI he doesn’t intend to file a complaint.

“I want one thing: I want to know who they are. … What movement do they belong to?” Finkielkraut said.

Castaner tweeted Sunday that the main suspect in the stream of insults had been identified.