France Announces Stronger Fight Against Racism and Anti-Semitism
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Version 0 of 1. PARIS — Deadly attacks on Jews by Muslim extremists in January and a sharp spike in anti-Muslim acts since then have prompted the French government to elevate the fight against racism into “a great national cause,” leading government officials said on Friday. Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced a detailed plan that dedicates 100 million euros, or $108 million, over the next three years to programs and policies that combat “racism and anti-Semitism,” including a nationwide awareness campaign, harsher punishments for racist acts and increased monitoring of online hate speech. “Racism, anti-Semitism, hatred of Muslims, of foreigners and homophobia are increasing in an intolerable manner in our country,” Mr. Valls said after visiting a high school in Créteil, a suburb of Paris that has large Jewish and Muslim populations. “French Jews should no longer be afraid of being Jewish, and French Muslims should no longer be ashamed of being Muslims,” he said. Under the government proposals, racist hate speech would be prosecuted under the penal code, not under the French media laws that govern certain aspects of freedom of speech. This would enable prosecutors to bring cases more swiftly and less leniently. Another change in the law would turn racist speech or racist motivation for a crime into an aggravating factor, making for harsher sentences. Mr. Valls also announced more assiduous monitoring of hate speech online, using existing tools that enable the flagging of racist content on a website. The government will also create a task force to coordinate and bolster the actions of public agencies that deal with hate speech on the Internet. “There is this discrepancy between what is acceptable in the real world and the virtual world, and people need to understand that there are things that are against the law and that there are norms, and the government is establishing its authority,” said Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, the head of the American Jewish Committee in France. “Most antiracist organizations have been waiting for this for a very long time,” she added. “It’s important to know there’s a budget behind it.” Jewish organizations welcomed the effort, as did Muslim groups, whose leaders said they had been consulted on a recent official report on racist acts against Jews, Muslims and other populations. The report, published last week by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, a government watchdog, found that from 2013 to 2014, the number of anti-Semitic acts had risen to 851 from 423, and that there were more aggressive acts targeting Muslims in January of this year than there were during all of 2014. Many of the recent attacks have been violent. Places of worship have been damaged and vandalized. Muslim women who wear a hijab, or head scarf, have been physically attacked, including a veiled pregnant woman who was recently beaten in Toulouse. In December, a couple living in Créteil, where Mr. Valls spoke, were attacked in their home by thieves who tied them up, raped the woman and insisted that they had money hidden somewhere because they were Jewish. In addition to a public awareness campaign on the dangers of racism and anti-Semitism, the government will encourage schools to partner with museums or memorials that raise awareness about the history of anti-Semitism and racism in France. While the title of the government’s plan did not include the term “Islamophobia,” which is how French Muslims describe acts against them, Muslim leaders said they were gratified that the government did speak specifically about the need to fight anti-Muslim sentiments and actions in France. “The president of the republic, François Hollande, has used the word ‘Islamophobia,’ he has recognized Islamophobia,” said Abdallah Zekri, the director of the National Observatory Against Islamophobia at the French Council of the Muslim Faith. However, Mr. Zekri said he noticed that Mr. Valls had avoided using the word in the past. “Many people do not want to hear the word ‘Islamophobia’; they want to hear the word ‘anti-Muslim,’ ” he said. Mr. Valls’s presentation of the plan did not mention racism targeting people who are black or Roma, but all racist behavior would be covered by the new measures. |