During this last meeting, Richard Prasquier talked of the concerns of the residents of the Albert Camus area, who felt abandoned at a time when the number of highly anti-Semitic acts of violence greatly increased (see our last newsletter). The closure of a police station allowed the return of drug trafficking, and violence increased once again. The residents place great importance on the presence of the Mayor. They feel that it is vital that he should be present as a reference authority. A meeting between the Mayor and the residents is planned for April 2008, after the next local elections, to go over how demands for greater safety are being dealt with.
They also talked about the blatantly anti-Semitic remarks made by the Algerian Minister for War Veterans, Mohammed Cherif Abbes, about the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, just before his official visit to Algeria. The Minister's remarks reflect very widespread opinion, which is current in Algeria, in the Muslim press, on the Web and among young people of immigrant origin.
Richard Prasquier said that he was extremely concerned by the low-key reactions to such violently anti-Semitic statements.
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