A group of Israeli journalists was invited to France to meet
with government officials. The French purpose is to show that
France is not anti-Israel.
French Prime Minister Rafarin and Interior Minister Nicolas
Sarkosi received a delegation of Israeli journalists at their
respective palaces and said the problem of antisemitism is a
national problem in France unconnected to what takes place in
Israel. "Antisemitism existed before the founding of the
State of Israel and nobody has the right to justify it on the
basis of his objections to the stances of the Israeli
government in the Middle East," said Sarkosi. "One can like
or dislike Sharon but one cannot condone Madame Cohen of the
suburb of Garges les Gonesses getting hit on the head by a
rock, as happened to her on the way to the synagogue, because
somebody wants to take revenge against Israel."
Sarkosi says there is no peace and quiet these days in France
and people are easily drawn into clashes and violence. The
government's job is to bring calm and to suppress all
antisemitism--a difficult task because every manifestation
must be monitored. At a demonstration against the war in Iraq
the government arrested two protesters carrying Israeli flags
with swastikas. Sarkosi revealed that two imams were deported
last week for inciting hatred and terrorism.
The previous left-wing government did not consider burning
synagogues criminal antisemitism if the arsonists did not
leave words like "dirty Jew" written in graffiti on the
walls, but now this attitude has changed and every attack
against Jews is viewed as an act of antisemitism. In the
northern town of Compiegne a gathering was held to acclaim
the World War II puppet Vichy regime for "the reforms it
carried out" and was accompanied by messages against Jews
written on local houses.
Prime Minister Rafarin told the journalists that the Justice
Minister has appointed a judge in every courthouse, to focus
on investigating antisemitic attacks. These judges have
plenty of work on their hands. Rafarin says he received
shockingly antisemitic video tapes shown in Arab countries
and he intends to screen them to his ministers.
Sarkosi received the delegation before a meeting of the
government while a storm was still raging over his ambitions
to appear as the heir to Chirac's presidential legacy without
asking him, which constitutes a deviation from the usual
rules of French politics. In France the president acts like a
monarch who appoints his successor.
For the first time the government initiated the appointment
of a Muslim Arab from Algeria as governor of a province in
the French Alps, a move that has been referred to as
"affirmative action." The appointment was intended to foster
the integration of Arabs in the administration of national
institutions and to placate Arab anger over the prohibition
against Islamic head-coverings in schools. Sarkosi said in
France the ruling class is one-dimensional. All of them study
in the same prep schools. The appointment of the secular
Muslim would bring multiculturalism into the government.
In all of the meetings French officials reiterated Chirac's
statements that France is currently working to rehabilitate
relations with Israel without altering its basic Middle East
policy or its votes along majority lines in the United
Nations. Rafarin said Israel is assisting, but is not
intervening with the details of the arrangements or the
process itself. Sarkosi said the attacks in Israel against
the French President are unjustified. In France criticism of
Israel is too emotionally charged and acerbic, but this means
the existence of the State of Israel is no longer challenged,
therefore it is subject to criticism just like France or
England. Senate President Francois Founcela expressed
reservations about the Geneva Accords, which created
controversy within the Jewish community. At a luncheon held
in honor of the delegation, Consistoire President Jean Kahn
called the French intellectuals who went to Geneva
"traitors," an accusation that drew protests from several of
the journalists in the delegation.
