The alleged assault of a 12-year-old Jewish girl has shocked France, raising antisemitism concerns in the forefront of parliamentary election campaigning. The National Rally party, which opposes emigration, leads in pre-election polls and has a good chance of forging a authorities if it wins the two-round elections that will end on July 7. The party has been making efforts to distance itself from traditional antisemitism. Since the Nazi occupation, France has the first far-right state.
Far-left politicians have also been accused of racism because of their responses to Hamas ‘ assault on Israel on October 7 and subsequent conflict.
After two youthful boys were charged with raping a 12-year-old woman and committing religion-motivated violence in a Paris suburb, the situation became more serious. Elie Korchia, a lawyer and president of the Jewish community, claimed the woman is Jewish and that the phrase” Palestine” was mentioned in the assault.
On Thursday night, hundreds of people gathered around the Bastille statue in Paris to rally antisemitism. This was the second night in a row of demonstrations. France, house to Europe’s largest Jewish community, is vulnerable to racist works due to its Military cooperation with the Nazis. In Western Europe, the country has the largest Arab population, and there have recently been more violent anti-Muslim works.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, French politicians have been making quick comments about the invasion. President Emmanuel Macron urged institutions to hold conversations on prejudice and hatred, while Prime Minister Gabriel Attal claimed on X that the child was “raped because she’s Jewish.”
President of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, made a pledge to fight racism if elected, and made the announcement that a party candidate’s support would be disqualified over a previous racist social media post. Marine Le Pen, Bardella’s father, accused the way left of stigmatizing Immigrants and exploiting the Israel- Hamas issue.
Leftist head Jean- Luc Mélenchon condemned “antisemitic racism”, although his group, France Unbowed, has faced related charges.
