Crif/Anti-Zionism - "It requires political courage to fight the scourge of antisemitism and its reinvented form"

Op-Ed by Francis Kalifat, President of Crif
June 27, 2019

Jews hatred through the demonization and hatred of Israel is flourishing in our country with total impunity.

On February 20, 2019, at the annual Crif dinner, the President of the Republic qualified anti-Zionism as one of the modern forms of "anti-Semitism". He added "that is why I confirm that France, which endorsed it in December with its European partners, will implement the definition of antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) ... to allow law enforcement, magistrates, and teachers to better fight those who hide their hatred of the Jews behind the rejection of Israel and the denial of the existence of Israel"

On the strength of this statement and in response to the request of the President of the Republic, the trans-partisan "study group on antisemitism" at the National Assembly, chaired by the deputy LREM Sylvain Maillard, submitted a motion on May 20 for a resolution to this effect.

Unfortunately, the examination of this motion, signed by 167 deputies, which had been placed on the agenda on May 29, was postponed sine die.

Worse, we learn that this resolution could be examined next October provided that it is rewritten, that is to say emptied of its substance.

The President of the National Assembly and the presidential majority have yielded to the pressures of the anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli lobby which knowingly confuse de-legitimization and political criticism, and to the unbridled activism of the supporters of the criminal appeal movement for the boycott of Israel (BDS), which flourishes with impunity in our country with the consequences we know of the increase in antisemitic acts motivated by demonization and hatred of the State of Israel.

To fight effectively the new antisemitism, declarations have value only if they translate into acts. We cannot afford to be paid in words. The compassion and solidarity expressed after each attack against French Jews can no longer be a sufficient response.

The fight against antisemitism and its avatar anti-Zionism cannot be a variable of adjustment of our country’s foreign policy or of electoral patronage. It is about the security of the French Jews and their future in France. It is about the honor of the Republic. It is about France and its values.

Twelve French Jewish women, men and children have been murdered in our country since the early 2000s for the only reason that they were Jewish. How many more deaths will it take to address the root of evil, to finally tackle antisemitism in all its forms and in particular its most pernicious aspect, that is anti-Zionism described as its “reinvented form” by President Emmanuel Macron.

Francis Kalifat, President of Crif 

You can also read:

• CRIF - FRANCIS KALIFAT ADRESSES A LETTER TO PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON