Yellow Vest leader: I would participate in an Anti-Zionist protest
It seems that Macron's words created the opposite effect in France, and the Bureau for the War on Antisemitism called the rise in incidents as "frightening."
By GIDEON KOUTS / MAARIVA man wearing a yellow vest tackles a protester as tear gas floats in the air during clashes with police at a demonstration by the "yellow vests" movement in Nantes, France, December 15, 2018(photo credit: STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS)
Only a few days after the Macron said he would adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, also stating that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism, the country saw a rise in antisemitic incidents lately.It seems that Macron's words created the opposite effect in France, and the Bureau for the War on Antisemitism called the rise in incidents as "frightening." Among other incidents, graffiti were found condemning Jews in various parts of the country.On the walls of a villa in the town of Ambai in the Alps, a huge inscription said: "Macaron - a prostitute of the Jews" accompanied by Stars of David.A 17-year-old riding a bicycle in a suburb north of Paris, was attacked by three unknown assailants who called him "dirty Jew", broke his wrist and robbed his cell phone, all for wearing a kippah.A 51-year-old woman was attacked near her home in Garez-les-Gons by two men with knives. The two called out to her, "Jewish whore, we'll burn all of you."In another incident, people inscribed "dirty Jew" on the nameplate of a Jewish doctor on the facade of a dental clinic in Paris whereas they did not touch the label of his colleague a non-Jewish doctor. There were also reports of Jews in the country receiving death threats by phone and mail, sometimes accompanied by swastikas.Jerome Rodriguez, one of the prominent leaders of the yellow vests movement in France, who lost his eye from a rubber bullet fired by the police, told Maariv that his movement was not antisemitic. Nevertheless, he added, "Finkielkraut is someone who goes around letting everyone know what his views were." According to Rodriguez, he did not take part in a demonstration against antisemitism because he was "busy visiting his movement's checkpoints in various parts of the country." However, he added that if he had time, he would prefer to participate in a demonstration organized by an anti-Zionist organization that supports boycotting Israel".
