Macron denounces “antisemitic hydra” at Ilan Halimi memorial, vows tougher penalties and electoral bans for racist and antisemitic acts in France
PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron Friday denounced what he described as an “antisemitic hydra” that had crept into “every crack” of society as he commemorated Ilan Halimi, a French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006.
In a crime that horrified France two decades ago, Halimi was kidnapped by a gang of around 20 youths in January 2006 and tortured in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux. Found three weeks later, the 23-year-old died on the way to hospital.
“In 20 years, and despite the resolute efforts of our police officers, gendarmes, judges, teachers and elected officials, the antisemitic hydra has kept advancing,” he said.
“Constantly assuming new faces, it has insinuated itself into the heart of our societies, into every crevice, too often accompanied by that same pact of cowardice: to keep silent, to refuse to see.”
Speaking at his presidential palace, Macron decried what he called “Islamist antisemitism which was behind the pogrom of October 7,” referring to the attack against Israel on October 7, 2023 by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The term “pogrom” refers to violent attacks on Jews because of their religion.
He also attacked “far-left antisemitism”, saying it “rivals that of the far right,” and “antisemitism that uses the mask of anti-Zionism to advance quietly”.
Macron also said he wanted “mandatory electoral bans” for officials guilty of “antisemitic, racist, and discriminatory acts and remarks”.
“All too often, the sentences handed down against the perpetrators of antisemitic offenses and crimes seem derisory,” he said.
“Government and parliament will work to strengthen the penalties for antisemitic and racist acts,” he added.
France is home to western Europe’s largest Jewish population, at around half a million people, as well as a significant Muslim community sensitive to the plight of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Members of France’s Jewish community have said the number of antisemitic acts has surged following the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023 which triggered Israel’s military response in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
The Sun Malaysia
