“Setting fire to a synagogue is unspeakably evil,” he said, outraged by a recent attack against a synagogue in Toulouse, South West France. “All over France we are seeing the number of anti-Semitic aggressions increase. I’m worried,” said Richard Prasquier. He added that the authorities have said they have fully measured the risk. “Anti-Semitism often expresses itself in the guise of anti-Zionism. The slightest incident can fan the flames,” explained the President of CRIF.
Minister Alliot-Marie called the attack against the synagogue in Toulouse “mindless and revolting.” The President of CRIF, Richard Prasquier, and the President of the French Council for Muslim Affairs (CFCM), Mohammed Moussaoui, have publicly agreed “not to carry the conflict over into France” and to seek to defuse the dreaded antagonism between the two communities.
The CFCM and the Great Mosque of Paris have condemned the attacks perpetrated against synagogues.
The CFCM has clearly stated that “nothing can justify such actions, in particular against places of worship, and it reiterates its call to responsible vigilance against any form of provocation.”
The President of CRIF, one of whose missions is “to affirm solidarity with Israel” does not accept the statements made by the Union of Islamic Organisations in France (UOIF), a member of the CFCM, according to which the Israeli offensive is “an unprecedented genocide against the Palestinian population.” The Muslim organisation’s website shows a series of “photos of Israeli barbarity”, while one of the texts denounces “an unprecedented genocide against the Palestinian population.”
“This is a call to violence, this is stoking the fires,” claimed Richard Prasquier, for whom Israel must defend its right to security. The UOIF, on the other hand, is accusing CRIF of “confusing French Jews with Israel,” by “unconditionally supporting the State of Israel.”
“Such statements are unheard of. They are seeking to import the conflict to France. I cannot talk to an organisation that is saying such things,” said Richard Prasquier.
For his part, Mr Moussaoui has reaffirmed his determination to “strengthen” the relations between the CFCM and the Jewish community, but this position is not necessarily unanimous among the members of the Muslim Council.
The Minister for Home Affairs has also asked for stronger police protection around Jewish institutions.
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