Paris mayor: Jewish life is vibrant here
WITH HER city’s Jews still reeling after the Hyper Cacher supermarket murders in January, the Mayor of Paris gave an impassioned speech in Jerusalem this week on her determination to fight antisemitism.
Anne Hidalgo did not limit herself to general statements, but also addressed the thorny topic of whether opposition to Israel is sometimes used to obscure Jew-hatred. “I strongly condemn antisemitism disguised as antiZionism,” she said.
Mrs Hidalgo was one of the headline speakers at the Fifth Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem, organised by the Israeli government.
The audience of 1,000 people from around the world, including politicians, security officials and representatives of Jewish communities, applauded enthusiastically when t h e m a y o r said: “With- Mayor Hidalgo out Jews, Paris wouldn’t be the same; without Jews, Paris wouldn’t be the beautiful city that we love.”
She spoke with pride of the “vibrant Jewish communal life” of Paris, the fact that the city has more kosher restaurants than New York — saying she “won a bet” about that — and of the deployment of state security personnel to safeguard Jewish buildings.
With aliyah from France at record levels, the JC asked Mrs Hidalgo what she would say to Jews from Paris who feel that they need to emigrate. She replied: “Of course, after the terrorist attacks I can deeply understand the fear and anger of families. But I want to stress that the Jews have a place in Paris and in France.” Asked how much power she has to reduce antisemitism, she was optimistic, pointing to her office’s programme to bring about dialogue between different communities.
The conference included a large delegation from Belgium, where a g u n m a n opened fire in a Jewish museum a year ago, killing four people. The Belgians, like Mrs Hidalgo, rejected the view that antisemitism will flourish regardless of intervention. “You cannot live with this assumption — if you are stuck with this assumption you go nowhere,” said John Cornet d’Elzius, Belgium’s ambassador to Israel.
Germany’s Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Heiko Maas said it was a “disgrace” that antisemitic incidents were still happening in Germany and called fighting antisemitism “one of the most important political challenges facing the government and German society as a whole.”
The crowd at the conference was heavily non-Jewish — a key requirement for taking a global approach to antisemitism, according to organisers.
There were imams and Christian leaders in attendance, as well as a Sikh government minister from Canada.
Tim Uppal, Canada’s Minister for Multiculturalism, said that he was determined to use discussions from the conference to help him to get messages about antisemitism “down to the student level, down to the people”.