The work of this “flash mission”, approved at the end of March by the Senate following incidents that occurred during the occupation of an amphitheater at Sciences Po Paris, began at the end of April and was led by two rapporteurs, the centrist Pierre-Antoine Lévi and the radical Bernard Fialaire.
Since the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, associations including the CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France) and politicians have regularly warned of the rise of “atmospheric anti-Semitism” in universities fueled by the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Our recommendations
“We are no longer in a time of vigilance but in a period of reaction and action” and “we ask the government to take into account as quickly as possible the recommendations made, from the start of the school year next September, to stem this phenomenon”, explained Bernard Fialaire during a press conference at the Senate.
The rapporteurs said they were “alarmed by the resurgence, within many establishments, of a climate of anti-Semitism whose modes of expression have evolved under the effect of the ideological polarization associated with student mobilizations in favor of Palestine” , added Mr. Lévi. “This atmospheric anti-Semitism, difficult to spot, is reflected in establishments by harassment, shoving, changes of places in lecture halls, isolation of students when forming working groups,” he said. detailed.
76 anti-Semitic acts reported
Among their eleven recommendations, the senators ask to “generalize partnership agreements between higher education establishments and local prosecutors’ offices”. “The goal of accentuating these partnerships is to be more responsive,” underlined Mr. Fialaire. The senators also point out “the training which sometimes exists but which must be disseminated more in universities where there is a lot of ignorant anti-Semitism”, according to Mr. Lévi.
They also recommend “adding types of sanctions to report cases of racism and anti-Semitism, going as far as temporary exclusion.” “Every time a university or college president becomes aware of a fact, it must be reported,” they insisted. Since October 7, “76 anti-Semitic acts have been reported, 17 of which are subject to disciplinary proceedings,” Higher Education Minister Sylvie Retailleau said at the end of May during a Senate hearing.