Macron warns of ‘scourge of antisemitism’ at schools in France

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that schools in the country are being threatened by the “scourge of antisemitism” after the shocking rape of 12-year-old Jewish girl.

Macron asked schools in France to hold a “discussion hour” on racism and antisemitism this week, after the rape of the Jewish girl in a Paris suburb.

He spoke “solemnly and seriously” about the “scourge of antisemitism” in a cabinet meeting, calling for “dialogue” about racism and hatred of Jews in schools to prevent “hateful speech with serious consequences” from ‘infiltrating’ classrooms, a government source told the AFP news agency.

The president asked education minister Nicole Belloubet “to organise a discussion in all schools on the fight against antisemitism and racism, to prevent hate speech with serious consequences from infiltrating schools”, Macron’s office confirmed.

It emerged that the girl, from Courbevoie, in the Hauts-de-Seine suburb, told police she had been in a park in Courbevoie, north-west of Paris, with a friend last Saturday when three boys – two aged 13 and one aged 12 – approached her.

Investigators heard how the gang grabbed her while she was sitting in Courbevoie’s Henri Regnault square with her boyfriend and dragged her to a derelict warehouse in the nearby La Defense district to carry out the attack.

The boys were arrested on Monday and two of them were charged with gang rape, antisemitic insults and violence, and issuing death threats.

The boys appeared in front of a judge on Wednesday and reportedly admitted to the crimes after the victim’s boyfriend was able to identify two of them.

The girl’s former boyfriend told police that he was angry she hid being Jewish from him and wanted revenge, according to Le Parisien.

Investigators allegedly found antisemitic comments and images, including that of a burned Israeli flag, on the boy’s phone.

One of his friends reportedly told police that he had hit the girl because she said bad things about Palestine.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal also called the attack “absolutely despicable, unbearable and unspeakable”.
“Unfortunately, since 7 October, antisemitism has been on the rise again in our country,” he told TF1.

Chief Rabbi of France Haim Korsia said he was “horrified”.
“Justice must firmly punish the perpetrators of this despicable act. No one can be excused from this unprecedented antisemitic surge,” Korsia added on X.

A January 2024 report by the Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) said there had been a 284% increase of antisemitic acts in France between 2022 and 2023.

It also said that nearly 13% of such acts last year took place in schools. A significant spike was reported in the wake