President Chirac has called an urgent meeting of senior ministers for today to discuss growing anti-Semitism in France after an arson attack against a Jewish school in a Paris suburb. Prosecutors in Gagny have launched a criminal investigation into the attack on an orthodox Jewish school in the early hours of Saturday. In a statement within hours, M Chirac said: "The French will not tolerate any acts of anti-Semitism and schools especially should be places of tolerance and respect." The fire in Gagny destroyed most of a private school for boys run by the orthodox Merkaz Hatorah association. It is the latest in a series of attacks on French Jews. In the first 10 months of last year there were 184 attacks against Jewish property and 685 against Jewish people in France. There was another brief upsurge in attacks during the invasion of Iraq. Previous French governments, however, have been loath to characterise attacks against Jews as anti-Semitic, preferring to bury them among the rest of the crime statistics. There was also doubt whether the perpetrators were fascists or Islamic extremists who are suspected in most of the recent attacks.
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The present government, however, has belatedly adopted a new attitude, toughening sentences for hate crimes. Visiting Gagny on Saturday, Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister, said: "We must use the words anti-Semitism. Honesty is not denying the evidence. When people set fire to a Jewish school, it’s hard for me not to think that it’s an act of anti-Semitism." |