President Chirac receives CRIF for a national campaign on the values of “living together”

Jacques Chirac – referring to the “tragedy” of the murder of Ilan Halimi, the incidents in Sarcelles and Lyon, and the recent show of intimidation in the rue des Rosiers by the so-called Tribu Ka gang – expressed his concern over the increase in recent months of acts with anti-Semitic overtones, after the drop observed in 2005. He expressed his support for the initiatives announced by Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy, following the most recent incident. The Head of State strongly reaffirmed the fact that France is a country where “every individual has a right to live his faith in total freedom”.

Thanking Jacques Chirac for his expression of solidarity, Roger Cukierman expressed his “concern” over the general wave of violence and of barbaric acts that is sweeping France, not only in anti-Semitic and racist acts. He suggested to the President the launch of a national campaign in favor of respect for civic rules and respect for others. Jacques Chirac responded by stating he was “totally in favor” of mobilizing the nation around the values of “living together”. He informed the President of CRIF that he had already spoken of the principle of such a campaign with Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and leaders from civil society, whose initial reactions had been “positive”. Jacques Chirac will look at the terms for implementing this proposal, which ought to include all of the nation’s components.