- In France, tens of thousands of people took a stand against anti-Semitism and gathered for rallies.
- In Paris alone, the authorities reported over 100,000 participants. There are said to have been over 180,000 nationwide.
- Numerous politicians were also present at the demonstrations. President Emmanuel Macron was not there.
According to the government headquarters in Matignon, over 30 ministers were present at the nationwide demonstrations. More than 20 of them were in Paris, as was Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, whose Jewish father had been deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Former presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy were also present, as were former heads of government. French head of state Emmanuel Macron did not take part in the rally in Paris. He spoke out on Saturday in an open letter to the French.
Polemics in advance
According to media reports, a total of 70 events took place across the country. In Paris, 105,000 people took part, as broadcasters BFMTV and TF1 reported, citing the prefecture. According to media reports, up to 3,000 participants were counted in Lyon and Nice. Between 5,000 and 7,000 people are said to have taken to the streets in Strasbourg. According to the Interior Ministry, over 3,000 security forces were deployed in Paris alone.
The extreme right Marine Le Pen party “Rassemblement National” (RN) also took part in the rally, which was initiated by the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, and the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher.
Legend:
Demonstrators against anti-Semitism also gathered on the Place du Capitole in Toulouse.
IMAGO/Huchot-Boissier Patricia/ABACA
The participation of the “Rassemblement National” caused controversy in advance. In protest, the left-wing party “La France insoumise” (LFI) stayed away from the demonstration in Paris and organized a wreath-laying ceremony in the morning at the Vélodrome d’Hiver – the former cycling hall – which was interrupted by Jewish demonstrators.
The largest mass arrest of Jews in France took place at the Vélodrome d’Hiver in July 1942. Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, controversy has increased over the political stance of the LFI, which rejects the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization.
In a letter published on Saturday in the newspaper Le Parisien, Macron warned of the division in the country and called on the French to defend themselves against the “unbearable resurgence of unbridled anti-Semitism.” “A France in which the French are afraid because of their religion or origin is not France,” it says. According to Macron, more than a thousand anti-Semitic acts have been committed in the past month – three times more acts of hate than in the whole of last year.