Thousands of people filled the streets in France to protest antisemitism

In a massive show of solidarity, more than 182,000 people took to the streets of France this Sunday in a march against antisemitism, according to Interior Ministry figures.

The protests, which took place in 110 locations throughout the country, sought to denounce the escalation of hostile acts that have occurred in the country against Jews after the Hamas massacres in Israel.

In Paris, the “great civic march” against antisemitism managed to attract more than 100,000 protesters after the support of various political figures such as the two presidents of Parliament, Yaël Braun-Pivet and Gérard Larcher; Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande.

According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, the demonstrations in other places in the country were also massive, highlighting the protests in Marseille (7,500 people), Strasbourg (5,000), Grenoble (3,700), Bordeaux (3,500), Nice (3,000), Lyon (3,000 ), Nantes (2,000) and La Rochelle (2,000).

Emmanuel Macron, the great absentee

Despite the presence of many political figures from various parties at the numerous demonstrations, the French president chose not to participate. Emmanuel Macron preferred to remain on the sidelines, arguing in a letter that his role “is rather to build the unity of the country and be firm in values,” he said, adding that he must “make decisions, say words when they have to be said and act, otherwise I could demonstrate every week.”

Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), lamented Macron’s absence in the mobilization, highlighting that writing a statement is not enough in these moments of tension. “His presence would have made this event even more historic (…), but he chose another formula: the letter,” he said.

More than a thousand antisemitic acts in a matter of weeks

According to local media, since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out on October 7, more than 1,200 anti-Semitic acts have been recorded throughout the country.

It should be noted that France has the largest Jewish community in Europe, with more than 500,000 people, and since the attack by the terrorist group, fear among this group of people has increased.

“Several years of antisemitic acts have fallen on France in a few weeks. Behind these figures, it is the French who are in the spotlight because they are Jews,” said Arfi.