Paris (APP) Alleged rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in Paris Suspected anti-Semitic attack sent shock waves across France, and brought concerns about anti-Semitism to the fore. The country's legislators are campaigning for elections..
The anti-immigration National Rally Party, which has sought to end historic links to anti-Semitism, is leading in pre-election polls and has its first real chance of forming a government if it wins two rounds ending on July 7. Top in the polls. It will be the first far-right force to lead a French government since the Nazi occupation.
Meanwhile, far-left figures have faced accusations of antisemitism linked to their reactions. Hamas attacks Israel on October 7 And the coming war.
Concerns arose after two teenage boys in a Paris suburb were initially charged this week with the rape of a 12-year-old girl and religious violence, according to prosecutors. Lawyer and Jewish leader Eli Corchia told French broadcaster BFM that the girl is Jewish and that the word Palestine was mentioned during the attack.
Hundreds of people gathered around the Bastille monument in Paris on Thursday evening to protest against anti-Semitism, in a second straight night of protests.
France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, but anti-Semitism today evokes old scars, given its collaboration with the Nazis in World War II. France also has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe and has seen an increase in anti-Muslim violence in recent years.
Politicians from all sides were quick to comment on the attack, especially after it escalated Anti-Semitic Acts in France Since the beginning of Israel Hamas war.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Atal wrote on X that the girl was “raped because she is Jewish,” while French President Emmanuel Macron Called on schools to hold “discussion time” on racism and antisemitism.
Jordan Bardella, president of the national rally, said that if elected, he would “fight the anti-Semitism that has been affecting France since October 7.” In the wake of reports of the attack, Bardella announced that his party was withdrawing support for one of its candidates in 2018 over an anti-Semitic message posted on social media.
His predecessor as party president and National Rally's 2022 presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, accused the “extreme left” of “defaming Jews” and “instrumentalizing” the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced “anti-Semitic racism”, although the France Envoy party he previously led has itself faced accusations of anti-Semitism linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Arié Alimi, lawyer and vice president of the League of Human Rights, called for a united front against the far right.
“There has been an awareness for some time now that there is antisemitism on the left and we need to deal with it,” he said at Thursday's demonstration. “Today it is the camp of the left, of the progressives, together with all those who are troubled by anti-Semitism and all forms of racism in France, with a far-right wing that is likely to But can come to power.
Although the alleged rape has raised tensions over anti-Semitism in France ahead of two rounds of parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7, it is far from a new issue in French politics.
More than 180,000 people across France protested in November against growing anti-Semitism in the wake of Israel's ongoing atrocities. The war against Hamas in Gaza.
Along with then Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne and representatives of several other parties, Le Pen participated in the march. Amid sharp criticism that his once-pariah National Rally Party has failed to shed its anti-Semitic heritage despite growing political legitimacy.
“The presence of a national rally is not fooling anyone,” tweeted Bourne, the daughter of a Jewish Holocaust survivor.
Party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of Marine Le Pen, was repeatedly convicted of anti-Semitic hate speech and downplayed the Holocaust. Marine Le Pen – runner-up in the last two presidential elections and a possible top contender in 2027 – has worked to clean up the party's image, kicking out her father and renaming it the National Front. National Rally has been done.
Atal announced in May that “366 anti-Semitic acts” were recorded between January and March this year, a 300 percent increase over the first three months of 2023.
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Morton reported from London.