French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday pledged € 100 million (US$ 107 million) to finance a plan to fight racism and anti-Semitism, three months after the terrorist attacks in Paris. The increase in prejudice in France was "insufferable", he commented.
"Racism, anti-Semitism, hatred of Muslims, of foreigners and homophobia are growing in an insufferable manner in our country," Valls told reporters in Créteil, just outside Paris, after presenting his plan. Créteil was chosen because of an attack on a young Jewish couple in their home there five months ago. The attackers raped the wife and said that they believed the victims had money because they were Jewish.
In January, after Saïd and Chérif Kouachi murdered 12 people at the headquarters of the 'Charlie Hebdo' satirical paper, their accomplice Amédy Coulibaly took hostages and killed four people at a kosher supermarket in Paris, prompting the government to promise action against anti-Semitism, racism and terror attacks.
No fewer than five ministers, including Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, accompanied Valls.
The money will be spent over three years and is designed to implement the government's 40-point action plan. Among its principal measures are the inclusion of hate speech, previously banned in the law on the press, in penal law; the establishment of racism or anti-Semitism as an "aggravating factor" that can lead to tougher sentences for a related crime; the permission for class action suits over alleged discrimination; the creation of a national police unit to combat hatred on the internet and the obligation of internet providers to have a legal identity in France; and a clampdown on racism and anti-Semitism in schools.
"French Jews should not be afraid of being Jewish," said Valls. "French Muslims should not be ashamed of being Muslims."
Roger Cukierman, president of the French Jewish umbrella body CRIF and a vice-president of the World Jewish Congress, welcomed the action plan presented by the prime minister. "These are a series of measures which seem to deal with this extremely grave matter in a comprehensive fashion." However, Cukierman cautioned that it would take some time until the actual impact of the plan to be seen could be evaluated, "especially in the field of education."
