Post by Bozur on Feb 26, 2005 17:06:01 GMT -5
World - Reuters
France's Chirac Condemns Racism, Jews Demand Action
Tue Feb 22, 8:48 AM ET World - Reuters
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday condemned an attack in which swastikas were daubed on the main mosque in Paris, and faced pressure from Jewish groups to intensify the fight against anti-Semitism and all racism.
The graffiti scrawled on the outer wall of the Grand Mosque and an arson attack on a railway carriage that is now a monument to Jews killed by the Nazi Germans, were the latest in a wave of racist attacks that have alarmed Muslims and Jews in France.
Chirac telephoned Dalil Boubakeur, the rector of the Grand Mosque, to express his indignation over the graffiti.
"Everything will be done to find the culprits," Chirac said, according to a spokesman accompanying him on a trip to Brussels.
A dozen swastikas, the SS initials of Adolf Hitler's guard and the words "Get out!" were found Monday written in black paint on the outer wall of the mosque in central Paris.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which Boubakeur called an "intolerable act of Islamophobia."
There has also been no claim of responsibility for the attack on the railway carriage at Drancy, just outside Paris.
Police said a petrol bomb was thrown at the carriage on Sunday night but it was not badly damaged. The Nazi Germans transported Jews by train from a transit camp at Drancy to death and concentration camps during World War II.
Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin condemned the Drancy attack Monday, but a Jewish leader said Tuesday French should step up its fight against anti-Semitism.
"It's true that the authorities do the maximum to fight this curse of anti-Semitism and racism, but one must fight it more intensely," Roger Cukierman, head of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish organizations, told RTL radio.
He said all French people must make an effort to help prevent racist attacks.
"Public opinion must understand that these are not viewpoints but crimes which have to be punished," said Cukierman, who has criticized French sentences for anti-Semitic crimes as too light.
About 600,000 Jews live in France, the largest Jewish population in Europe. It is also home to 5 million Muslims, Europe's largest Muslim minority.
Despite Chirac's drive to crack down on racist attacks, more than 300 tombs or graves have been desecrated in eastern France since April -- many in Jewish cemeteries but also some Muslim and a few Christian graves.
Police have not found any organized effort behind the sporadic attacks but have blamed them on neo-Nazis.
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin pledged earlier this month to boost police numbers and hand down stiff sentences to those who commit anti-Semitic violence. He also said schools were a key place to fight racism and anti-Semitism.
France's Chirac Condemns Racism, Jews Demand Action
Tue Feb 22, 8:48 AM ET World - Reuters
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday condemned an attack in which swastikas were daubed on the main mosque in Paris, and faced pressure from Jewish groups to intensify the fight against anti-Semitism and all racism.
The graffiti scrawled on the outer wall of the Grand Mosque and an arson attack on a railway carriage that is now a monument to Jews killed by the Nazi Germans, were the latest in a wave of racist attacks that have alarmed Muslims and Jews in France.
Chirac telephoned Dalil Boubakeur, the rector of the Grand Mosque, to express his indignation over the graffiti.
"Everything will be done to find the culprits," Chirac said, according to a spokesman accompanying him on a trip to Brussels.
A dozen swastikas, the SS initials of Adolf Hitler's guard and the words "Get out!" were found Monday written in black paint on the outer wall of the mosque in central Paris.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which Boubakeur called an "intolerable act of Islamophobia."
There has also been no claim of responsibility for the attack on the railway carriage at Drancy, just outside Paris.
Police said a petrol bomb was thrown at the carriage on Sunday night but it was not badly damaged. The Nazi Germans transported Jews by train from a transit camp at Drancy to death and concentration camps during World War II.
Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin condemned the Drancy attack Monday, but a Jewish leader said Tuesday French should step up its fight against anti-Semitism.
"It's true that the authorities do the maximum to fight this curse of anti-Semitism and racism, but one must fight it more intensely," Roger Cukierman, head of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish organizations, told RTL radio.
He said all French people must make an effort to help prevent racist attacks.
"Public opinion must understand that these are not viewpoints but crimes which have to be punished," said Cukierman, who has criticized French sentences for anti-Semitic crimes as too light.
About 600,000 Jews live in France, the largest Jewish population in Europe. It is also home to 5 million Muslims, Europe's largest Muslim minority.
Despite Chirac's drive to crack down on racist attacks, more than 300 tombs or graves have been desecrated in eastern France since April -- many in Jewish cemeteries but also some Muslim and a few Christian graves.
Police have not found any organized effort behind the sporadic attacks but have blamed them on neo-Nazis.
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin pledged earlier this month to boost police numbers and hand down stiff sentences to those who commit anti-Semitic violence. He also said schools were a key place to fight racism and anti-Semitism.