‘Tougher’ penalties for hate speech
Thousands of Jews worried about safety migrated to Israel last year in face of rising anti-Semitism
French President Francois Hollande vowed to introduce tougher penalties for “racist, anti-Semitic or homophobic” remarks on Monday in the wake of last month’s militant attacks in Paris.
Speaking at an annual dinner hosted by the country’s Jewish community, Hollande called for “faster, more effective sanctions” against hate speech and added: “I want such speech to come under criminal law rather than press laws.”
“Jewish people are at home in France; it’s the anti-Semites who have no place in the republic,” Hollande said, adding that anti-Semitism should be treated as an aggravating circumstance in the prosecution of all offenses.
Would-be jihadists would also face stiffer punishment under a draft intelligence bill to be unveiled next month, he said. France is home to Europe’s largest Jewish population, estimated to be more than 500,000, as well as the continent’s largest Muslim population, estimated at around 5 million.
Many French Jews feel increasingly worried about antiSemitism. French migration to Israel hit a record high last year with 6,600 people, and many believe the trend will accelerate.
Since January’s attacks, in which 17 people were killed, including four Jews gunned down at a kosher supermarket in Paris, soldiers and police have been deployed outside synagogues and Jewish schools, and France has remained on high alert.
Phantom drones
Jews
Meanwhile, at least five drones were spotted flying over central Paris landmarks during the night, and police were unable to catch the operators, a security source said on Tuesday.
The first drone sighting was near the US embassy in the French capital. The Eiffel Tower, the Place de la Concorde and the Invalides military museum “were also flown over” in the early hours of Tuesday, the source said.
France has experienced a series of mysterious drone appearances in the last few months. On Jan 20, a pilotless aircraft briefly went over the presidential palace in Paris, while around 20 drones were seen flying earlier above nuclear power plants.
French law bans small civilian drones from areas such as nuclear facilities, which are protected by a no-fly zone that has a 2.5-km radius and a ceiling of 1,000 meters.