Latest news with #FrenchJews
The Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Palestinian under psychiatric evaluation after hitting rabbi in France
PARIS: A Palestinian man arrested on Friday for throwing a chair at a rabbi in a Paris suburban cafe has been sent to hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, French authorities said. The reason for the attack was unknown, but France's main Jewish association condemned it as an antisemitic assault, and French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou blamed a 'radicalisation of public debate' against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza. The rabbi, Elie Lemmel, suffered a gash to his head from the chair that hit him as he was speaking with a companion in the cafe in the wealthy western Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. The local prosecutors' office said that it had opened a criminal investigation for assault possibly aggravated by religious motives. It said the Palestinian, an irregular migrant living with temporary papers in Germany, was thought to be 28 years old and born in the Gaza city of Rafah. It added that 'he is undergoing a psychiatric examination requiring his forced hospitalisation'. France's hardline interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said on X that the Palestinian 'had no reason to be in France' and should be 'severely punished and deported'. The French Jewish association CRIF said on X that 'this attack is yet another illustration of the toxic climate targeting French Jews'. The French Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, has faced a number of attacks and desecrations of memorials since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023. French authorities are alert to antisemitic attacks, reports of which have been on the rise as the war in Gaza grinds on. That conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023 when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked parts of Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,218 people. Israel retaliated with relentless bombardments and an aid blockade of the Gaza Strip. The ongoing military operation has resulted in the deaths of at least 54,677 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Palestinian under psychiatric evaluation after hitting rabbi
PARIS: A Palestinian man arrested on Friday for throwing a chair at a rabbi in a Paris suburban cafe has been sent to hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, French authorities said. The reason for the attack was unknown, but France's main Jewish association condemned it as an antisemitic assault, and French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou blamed a 'radicalisation of public debate' against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza. The rabbi, Elie Lemmel, suffered a gash to his head from the chair that hit him as he was speaking with a companion in the cafe in the wealthy western Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. The local prosecutors' office said that it had opened a criminal investigation for assault possibly aggravated by religious motives. It said the Palestinian, an irregular migrant living with temporary papers in Germany, was thought to be 28 years old and born in the Gaza city of Rafah. It added that 'he is undergoing a psychiatric examination requiring his forced hospitalisation'. France's hardline interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said on X that the Palestinian 'had no reason to be in France' and should be 'severely punished and deported'. The French Jewish association CRIF said on X that 'this attack is yet another illustration of the toxic climate targeting French Jews'. The French Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, has faced a number of attacks and desecrations of memorials since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023. French authorities are alert to antisemitic attacks, reports of which have been on the rise as the war in Gaza grinds on. That conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023 when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked parts of Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,218 people. Israel retaliated with relentless bombardments and an aid blockade of the Gaza Strip. The ongoing military operation has resulted in the deaths of at least 54,677 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
France's Zemmour fined 10,000 euros over claim WWII leader 'saved' Jews
French far-right politician Eric Zemmour was ordered Wednesday to pay a fine of 10,000 euros ($10,800) for contesting crimes against humanity by saying Nazi collaborator Philippe Petain had "saved" French Jews during World War II. Zemmour, head of the far-right Reconquest party, made the comments during a television debate in 2019. The claim is contested by most historians, who note the wartime leader's well-documented anti-Semitism. Lower courts had in the past cleared Zemmour of the charges of denial of crimes against humanity. But the Court of Cassation, France's top court for questions on whether laws have been correctly applied, had overturned his acquittal and ordered a new trial. On Wednesday, Zemmour, 66, was ordered to pay 10,000 euros for contesting crimes against humanity. In a statement released after the ruling, Zemmour insisted that he had "at no time wished to 'defend Petain'" and said he would lodge an appeal. In 2022, an appeals court ruled that while the remarks "may offend the families of deportees," they "are not intended to dispute or minimise, even marginally, the number of victims of deportation or the policy of extermination in the concentration camps". That court pointed out that Petain, who headed the Vichy government during World War II, in collaboration with Nazi Germany, had not been convicted of "one or more crimes against humanity" but of "colluding with the enemy." However, the Court of Cassation ruled that "the alleged remarks might constitute an offense, even if they relate to a public figure who has not been convicted of a crime against humanity". Known as a commentator and writer with virulent anti-Islam views, Zemmour has several convictions for racist hate speech. He stood in 2022 presidential elections but was knocked out in the first round. spe-as/sjw/js
New York Times
13-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
National Rally Leader Heads to Israel, a First for French Far-Right Party
Jordan Bardella, the young president of France's far-right National Rally, plans to visit Israel this month in a powerful symbol of his party's shift from the home of French antisemitism to the country's most vociferous friend of the Jews. 'Antisemitism is a poison,' Mr. Bardella told Le Journal du Dimanche, a Sunday newspaper, announcing that he plans to attend a Jerusalem conference on that subject in late March and visit areas of Israel attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. 'Our engagement in this combat is absolute.' No leader of the far-right party, including its perennial presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, has previously made an official visit to Israel. But the party's stand against what it calls 'Islamist ideology,' has led it to a sweeping embrace of Israel and the country's fight against Hamas and Hezbollah. At the same, the National Rally's vehement anti-immigrant ideology, aimed particularly at Muslims, has earned it the support of some French Jews. Many French Jews, however, remain steadfast in their opposition to the party. Bernard-Henri Lévy, a prominent intellectual and author last year of the book 'Israel Alone,' an impassioned paean to Israel in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack, immediately announced that he had dropped out of the Jerusalem conference because Mr. Bardella is going. He informed President Isaac Herzog of Israel of his decision. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the National Front, which became the National Rally in 2018, famously dismissed the Holocaust as a 'detail' of history and called the Nazi occupation of France 'not particularly inhumane,' despite the deportation of more than 75,000 Jews to Hitler's death camps. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Canada professor convicted in absentia gets renewed attention from right over 1980 Paris attack
Until recently, Hassan Diab's life in Ottawa had begun to settle back into a quiet suburban routine: spending his days teaching sociology part time at Carleton University, taking his two youngest children to the park to play football, or going for an afternoon swim. It had been well over a year since he was convicted in absentia for carrying out a deadly bomb attack on a Paris synagogue in 1980, and the media attention had largely quieted down. He was trying to move on with his life. Diab, who is Lebanese Canadian, has consistently maintained his innocence, claiming he was in Beirut sitting university exams at the time of the bombing. But in January, a new voice weighed into his case, returning it to the headlines. Elon Musk reposted an X post about Diab by Pierre Polievre, leader of the country's federal Conservative party. Musk added a remark: 'A mass murderer is living free as a professor in Canada?' More than 21 million people saw the post. For 71-year-old Diab, whose story is the focus of a new Canadaland podcast series, the renewed attention from prominent rightwing figures has plunged his life back into a familiar turmoil. With a general election which needs to be called before October, Diab fears that shifting politicians winds in Canada could lead to a new extradition fight. 'I just have to be careful. It's like you are living in constant fear. It's not easy, it's like waiting for a ghost to appear from somewhere.' *** Aliza Shagrir, an Israeli film editor, was in Paris on holiday in October 1980, when she stopped at a grocery store on rue Copernic to buy figs. Moments later, a blast ripped through the street. Shopfronts were blown out. Parked cars were reduced to twisted hunks of metal. Ten kilograms of the explosive PETN had been hidden inside a motorbike parked outside a synagogue and timed to detonate at 6:30pm, when the congregation was due to be leaving. But services were running late, so the more than 300 worshippers were still inside when the bomb exploded. Shagrir was one of four passersby who were killed in the attack. Her son, Oron Shagrir, said that the family never recovered from the loss. 'She was 42 when she was killed. She was beautiful, joyful, very opinionated. In some ways, she was the centre of the family.' The blast shocked the country. It was the first deadly attack targeting French Jews since the second world war, and in the following days, thousands of Parisians marched in solidarity with the Jewish community. French police gathered a limited set of clues: a handwriting sample from his hotel registration card, and a police sketch based on witness testimony. Together with the type of explosive used and a German intelligence report, authorities concluded that the attack was committed by the PFLP-OS - a now defunct offshoot of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. But it wasn't until decades later, in 2007, after a new investigative judge in Paris named Marc Trévidic took over the case, that Diab became a focus of the investigation. His name appeared in an unsourced 1999 Israeli intelligence report, which included a list of people purportedly involved in the bombing. Diab's lawyer, Don Bayne, has long argued that the intelligence used to identify him is unreliable, saying: 'It's unknown sources. Unknown circumstances. Who said what? When? Is this a human source? Is this just something some analyst made up? We have no idea.' Trévidic obtained a photocopy of an old passport belonging to Diab, which contained stamps showing travel in and out of Europe around the dates of the attack. Finally, he found a 1988 police interrogation record, in which one of Diab's former university friends suggested that Diab was once involved with a political party linked to the PFLP. Diab denies ever being involved with a political group. He says that he believes his passport was stolen in Beirut in 1980, and subsequently used by the bomber. In 2008, Trévidic had completed his initial investigation and submitted an extradition request to the Canadian government. Diab was getting ready to leave the house for his morning jog in November that year when police showed up. He was arrested and later released on bail. As the case attracted increasing media attention, Ottawa citizens and human rights organisations grew alarmed at what they believed was insufficient evidence to justify Diab's extradition. Bernie Farber, a Jewish community leader who had initially welcomed Diab's arrest, was following closely. 'It came to a point where I just couldn't believe that people didn't understand that this was not the guy,' he said. In April 2012, Robert Maranger, the judge overseeing the extradition hearings, delivered his verdict. He described the French case as 'weak [and] replete with seemingly disconnected information'. But he was sufficiently persuaded by handwriting analysis gathered from five words written on the suspect's hotel registration card. Despite expert testimonies strongly criticising the analysis, Maranger granted the extradition. Diab's appeals failed, and in November 2014, he was placed on an Air France flight bound for Paris, where he was met on the tarmac by French police and escorted to prison. Eleven months into his detention, Diab received some welcome news; Trevidic's term as investigative judge had come to an end, and two new judges would be reinvestigating the case. They interviewed Diab at length, and travelled to Lebanon to gather testimony from former university classmates, who said they remembered Diab sitting exams in Beirut the week of the bombing. Eventually, the judges ruled that there was insufficient evidence to keep Diab detained, and ordered his release. After more than three years incarcerated in Paris without trial, he was free to return home to Canada. Three days later, Diab was welcomed at Ottawa airport by supporters – and by his wife, Rania, and his two children – the youngest of whom he was meeting outside prison walls for the first time. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later voiced his support, saying that 'what happened to Hassan Diab never should have happened', and promised a government inquiry into his extradition. For Diab, the past decade had felt like a kafkaesque nightmare – and now it looked like it might finally be over. But his relief was short-lived. The French judges' decision was successfully appealed, and arrangements were made for a fresh trial in April 2023. Diab was requested to attend in person, but without a new extradition order he was under no obligation to show up. During the three-week Paris trial, state anti-terrorist prosecutors asked for a maximum prison sentence, saying there was 'no possible doubt' he was guilty. Diab's defence asked for him to be acquitted to 'avoid a judicial error'. No new evidence was presented during the three-week trial, and the handwriting evidence was thrown out after it was determined to be inconclusive. The only material evidence brought up in court was a set of fingerprints and a handprint believed to belong to the bomber. Neither was a match for Diab. But the court dismissed alibis presented by Diab, saying their explanations about the passport being lost and his presence in Beirut at the time of the attack were 'variable' and 'not very credible'. On 21 April 2023, Diab was found guilty in absentia, and sentenced to life in prison. A warrant was immediately issued for his arrest. In the knowledge he could be arrested at any moment, Diab attempted to reintegrate back into his old life, living back at home with his family, and working as a part-time professor at Carleton University. In late 2024, the Jewish advocacy group B'nai B'rith issued a statement calling for Carleton to end Diab's teaching contract, igniting a flurry of new interest in the case – particularly in the rightwing media. Diab's sociology department chair said while Diab's current contract has ended, the department's relationship with him had not changed. Diab says his lectures were temporarily relocated out of concern for student safety, and he received death threats to his work email. For now, his life hangs in an anxious limbo. He's out of prison, but is followed by the constant dread that his government could accept another extradition request from France. 'That's the sword above your head, waiting to fall.'
