France Pledges $107M to Anti-Semitism Fight
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls pledged to finance a $107 million plan to fight racism and anti-Semitism.
The recent increase in prejudice in France is “insufferable,” he said at a press conference Friday in which he announced the plan.
“Racism, anti-Semitism, hatred of Muslims, of foreigners and homophobia are growing in an insufferable manner in our country,” Valls told reporters in Creteil, just outside Paris, after presenting his plan. Créteil was chosen because of an attack on a young couple in their home there five months ago, Radio France Internationale reported.
The attackers raped the woman and said that they believed the victims had money because they were Jewish.
In January, after Said and Cherif Kouachi murdered 12 people at the headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, their accomplice Amedy Coulibaly took hostages and killed four people at a kosher supermarket, prompting the government to promise action against anti-Semitism, racism and terror attacks.
Five ministers, including Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, accompanied Valls in Creteil. The government pledged $107 million over three years to putting the 40-point plan into action.
Among its principal measures are the inclusion of hate speech, previously banned in the law on the press, in penal law; the establishment of racism or anti-Semitism as an “aggravating factor” that can lead to tougher sentences for a related crime; permitting class-action suits for discrimination and the creation of a national police unit to combat hate on the Internet.
The allocated funds will be spent on publicizing the aims and taking local action against prejudice.
“French Jews should not be afraid of being Jewish,” said Valls. “French Muslims should not be ashamed of being Muslims.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!