Parisian teacher fined 1,500 euros for saying 'Jews organized the Holocaust'

The teacher, who was suspended in August 2016 and has declared herself to be on long-term sick leave, did not attend her trial in October, citing her psychological state.

By TAMARA ZIEVE
Updated: NOVEMBER 15, 2017 02:28
Lycee Janson de Sailly in Paris (photo credit: WIKIMEDIA)
Lycee Janson de Sailly in Paris
(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA)
A French court fined a teacher from a Parisian high school €1,500 last week for making anti-Semitic remarks including that the Jews “planned and organized the Holocaust.”
The ruling was welcomed by the World Zionist Organization on Tuesday.
According to an AFP report, the English teacher from the Lycée Janson de Sailly school made the anti-Semitic comments in 2016 on her Facebook account, which is accessible to students.
The court found her guilty of denying crimes against humanity and of racial defamation. She was also ordered to pay 500 Euros in damages to several organizations who brought the civil action, including SOS Racisme and the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism.
Yaakov Hagoel, vice chairman of the World Zionist Organization, welcomed the court’s decision and expressed his support for the judges “who saw fit to severely punish those who deny the injustice of the Holocaust and who try to blur history.”
The teacher, who was suspended in August 2016 and has declared that she is on long-term sick leave, did not attend her trial in October, citing her psychological state. Her lawyer had requested a psychological assessment but the court rejected this request, AFP reported.
The defendant reportedly told investigators she has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and sometimes reacts to news on social media while under the influence of alcohol.
According to the Coordination Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism, the teacher made regular anti-Semitic posts on social media, including statements such as “Jews are a symptom,” and “Mohamed Merah never killed anyone.”
Merah murdered three French soldiers, and later, in a separate incident, killed three Jewish children and a teacher, at a Jewish school in Toulouse in 2012.