Anti-Semitic crime has brought thousands of French people to the streets

In France, on Wednesday, March 28, marched against anti-Semitism. The cause of general indignation was the murder of 85-year-old Mireille Knoll, which the French investigation described as “committed on the basis of anti-Semitism,” writes RFI.

Photo: twitter / Arsen Ostrovsky @Ostrov_A

Thousands of people took to the streets, French President Emmanuel Macron honored the memory of the victim. Nevertheless, the march became the scene of political differences due to the presence of leaders of far-right and far-left political parties.

The story of the murdered Mireille Knol is a reflection of the history of French Jewry in the 20th century and, above all, the events connected with the “Roundup of the Winter Velodrome”, the largest series of mass arrests of Jews in the country during World War II (more than 13 000 people, more than thirds - children). Mireille Knol and his mother managed to escape from the territory of the Paris Velodrome, where Jews were detained during the raids, later sent to Nazi extermination camps. She is also the widow of a former prisoner of Auschwitz.

The half-burnt body of Mireille Knoll was found in her apartment by a fire brigade. The 85-year-old woman lived alone on the second floor of a house in the eastern part of Paris. According to numerous evidence in her apartment, the police admitted deliberate arson. 11 knife wounds were found on the body of the deceased.

Photo: twitter / Arsen Ostrovsky @Ostrov_A

One of the family members Mireille Knol stated his suspicions that fell on her neighbor, Yasin M. 1989, who was born. The young man who had known Mireille Knol since he was seven years old was seen on the day of her death in her apartment, their conversation was raised in raised tones.

The suspect, who was detained immediately after the murder, was known to the police in connection with the rape and sexual crimes committed by him. Shortly before the tragedy, he emerged from prison, where he was in charge of the attack on a girl 12 in years 2017. This attack, writes Le Parisien, also occurred in Knol’s apartment: the girl was the daughter of a nurse who looked after an elderly woman. At the same time, the suspect threatened to kill the mother and set fire to the house. By a court decision, Yasin M. was forbidden to approach the building.

In the case of the murder, Mireille Knoll was also detained a second suspect, 21-year-old Alex S. without a certain place of residence, who had repeatedly been taken to the police for robbery with violence. According to Le Parisien, the suspects met in prison. Blaming each other, they put forward different versions of what had happened, but both confessed that they had entered the Knol apartment. Alex S. said that when striking, Yasin M. shouted “Allah Akbar” and that before committing the crime they said that “Jews always have a lot of money”. “She’s Jewish, she should have money,” said French Interior Minister Gerard Collon, quoting one of the suspects, reporting on the investigation at a meeting of the National Assembly.

Photo: twitter / Julien Bahloul @ julienbahloul

A year before the murder of Mireille Knoll, 4 on April 2017, in Paris, 66-year-old Sarah Alimi fell victim to a crime committed on the basis of anti-Semitism, which a neighbor threw out of the window. In January 2006, 26-year-old Ilan Alimi was tortured and killed by twenty criminals who called themselves "barbarians". Their crime was also committed on the basis of anti-Semitism and the belief that "Jews have money."

"Anti-Semitism has ceased to be only a Jewish problem."

Thousands of French went out on Wednesday, March 28, on marches and demonstrations of protest in different cities of the country: Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Toulouse, etc. "Anti-Semitism in our day has ceased to be a problem of Jews, this is a problem of all French," the head said who called for the manifestations of the Representative Council of the Jewish Organizations of France (CRIF) Francis Caliph.

French President Emmanuel Macron attended the funeral of Mireille Knoll “as a private individual.”

The fact that the head of the French Republic decided to honor the memory of the murdered was announced in advance only to her son. The private nature of the event allowed the Elysian Palace to make no statements to the press. In the photos that were published on Twitter, it is clear that the president, covering his head with a pile, hugs the son of the deceased.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, as well as the heads of the State Council and the Senate, many ministers and heads of political parties took part in the demonstration, which took place in the capital. All politicians put on ribbons of the colors of the French flag, which distinguish elected officials in France.

The head of the far-right National Front, Marine Le Pen, and the leader of the far-left party “Rebellious France”, Jean-Luc Melenchon, even before the start of the march announced that they intend to take part in it. CRIF, in turn, said that the presence of these politicians at the demonstration is undesirable. The organization, established in 1943, previously accused the National Front of “inciting hatred” and of anti-Semitism. The founder of the far-right party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was repeatedly convicted of denying crimes against humanity during the Second World War. The final verdict on the last case of this kind was taken on March 12, 27, by Le Pen.

Leaders of the extreme parties - left and right - brought out of the march

CRIF also considers the “non-handshaking” leader of the far-left party “Rebellious France”, Jean-Luc Melenchon. CRIF head Francis Kalifa in 2017, in particular, said that "there is no difference between Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon - they both incite hatred." This time, Kalifa explained the reluctance to see Mélenchon at a demonstration by saying that there are “too many anti-Semites” in the far left party. CRIF considered Malenchon’s presence at the demonstration and the support that he renders to the pro-Palestinian activists of BDS, a pro-Palestinian organization created by BNN in 2005, in support of the boycott of Israeli products. In November 2017, seven deputies from the Communist Party of France and “Unruly France” were denied entry to Israel precisely because of the support of the BDS.

Under the whistles and cries of "Get out of here!" Mélenchon and Le Pen were taken out of the march. Mélenchon, in turn, called the CRIF position a "moral and political mistake." Marine Le Pen returned and attended the rally before her graduation, under police protection and away from the general convoy. AFP also reports that Marine Le Pen was guarded by members of the Jewish far-right organization “League of Jewish Self-Defense” and that the head of the league “is close to Marine Le Pen”, despite the reputation of the National Front as the “anti-Semitic party”.

“This demonstration is not about me, but about a woman killed by barbarians,” Mélenchon responded to the CRIF statement, stressing that “every Jew in France can count on the support of the people.” Marine Le Pen, observers emphasize, tries to save the National Front from the image of the “anti-Semitic party” by its presence on the march. “I came here for the sake of our compatriots — the Jews who are the first to become victims of Islamic fundamentalism,” she said.

The son of the deceased, Daniel Knol, said on the waves of the RMC channel that he did not share the position of CRIF, calling on everyone, without exception, to take action against anti-Semitism. “CRIF is involved in politics, and my heart is open to all,” he said. The representative of the French government, Benjamin Grieve, adheres to the same position, saying that “everyone has the right to attend the demonstration”.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philip also called for unity, stressing that “when it comes to fighting obscurantism or against anti-Semitism and fanaticism, everything that can unite us makes us stronger”.

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