PARIS (AP) — The alleged rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a suspected anti-Semitic attack sent shockwaves across France and put concerns about anti-Semitism at the forefront of campaigning for the country’s legislative elections.
The National Reunion party, which has tried to free itself from historical links with anti-Semitism, has its first real opportunity to form a government if it wins the two-round elections that end on July 7, as polls predict. It would be the first far-right force to lead a French government since the Nazi occupation.
Meanwhile, far-left figures have faced accusations of anti-Semitism related to their response to Hamas attack on October 7 against Israel and the war that followed.
The concerns came to a head after two teenagers from a Paris suburb were charged with preliminary charges this week of raping a 12-year-old girl and religiously motivated violence, according to prosecutors. Lawyer and Jewish leader Elie Korchia told French broadcaster BFM that the girl is Jewish and that the word Palestine was mentioned during the attack.
Politicians on all sides were quick to comment on the attack, which sparked widespread shock and concern, particularly after a spike in violence. anti-Semitic acts in France since the beginning of Israel-Hamas War.
France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, but given its own collaboration with the Nazis in the Second World War, anti-Semitic acts today leave old scars. France also has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, and anti-Muslim acts have increased in recent years.
On Wednesday night, hundreds of people gathered in front of Paris City Hall to protest anti-Semitism. Many in the crowd held signs, including some with the slogan “raped because she is Jewish.” Further protests are planned for Thursday night at Place de la Bastille.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote in X that the girl was “raped because she is Jewish,” identifying it as an anti-Semitic attack, while French President Emmanuel Macron called on schools to hold a “discussion hour” about racism and antisemitism.
Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally, said that, if elected, he would “combat the anti-Semitism that has plagued France since October 7th”. Following reports of the attack, Bardella announced that his party was withdrawing support for one of its candidates due to an anti-Semitic social media message published in 2018.
His predecessor as party president and National Rally presidential candidate in 2022, Marina LePenaccused the “extreme left” of “stigmatizing Jews” and “instrumentalizing” the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has denounced “anti-Semitic racism”, although the France Insubmissa party, which he previously led, has faced accusations of anti-Semitism linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
While the alleged rape has heightened tensions over anti-Semitism in France ahead of two-round parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7, it is far from a new issue in French politics.
More than 180,000 people across France, including 100,000 in Paris, marched in November to protest rising anti-Semitism following Israel’s ongoing campaign war against Hamas in Gaza — the largest gathering to denounce anti-Semitism in France since a 1990 demonstration against the desecration of a Jewish cemetery.
Together with the then Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and representatives of several other parties, Le Pen participated in the march amid fierce criticism that his once-pariah National Rally party has failed to shake off its anti-Semitic heritage despite growing political legitimacy.
Borne, who is the daughter of a Jewish Holocaust survivor, tweeted that “the presence of the National Rally does not fool anyone.”
The party’s founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of Marine Le Pen, has been repeatedly convicted of anti-Semitic hate speech and has downplayed the scope of the Holocaust. Marine Le Pen – runner-up in the last two presidential elections and likely a leading candidate in 2027 – has worked to clean up the party’s image, expelling her father and changing its name from National Front to National Rally.
Attal announced in May that “366 anti-Semitic acts” were recorded between January and March this year, an increase of 300% compared to the first three months of 2023.
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Morton reported from London.
