Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

Tight security in Paris ahead of march against anti-Semitism

A major security operation will be in place in Paris over the weekend along the route of a planned demonstration against anti-Semitism - which has already sparked a deep political divide.

Published: 10 November 2023 16:48 CET
Tight security in Paris ahead of march against anti-Semitism
A French riot police officer (CRS) outside the Paris Synagogue. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

Thousands of people are expected in the capital for the march, called by Senate president Gérard Larcher and Yaël Braun-Pivet, head of France’s National Assembly, following the rise in anti-Semitic incidents in France in the days and weeks after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

They called for a, “general mobilisation” against the, “banalisation of hate” to declare, “before the world that the French Republic will never allow ignominy to prosper”.

The Association des maires de France has also called for rallies in front of préfectures across France at 3pm on Sunday to coincide with the start of the march in Paris.

There have been 1,000 anti-Semitic acts in France since the slaughter by Hamas of 1,400 Israeli civilians on October 7th and Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, twice as many as in the whole of last year.

Several dozen police units will be mobilised to protect marchers and maintain order, with officials concerned about a ‘lone wolf’ attack from someone who has so far avoided the attention of police or security officials.

READ ALSO OPINION: A march against anti-Semitism is vital for France, but will also reveal hypocrisy

More than 20 government ministers have said they will take part in the march, as will former heads of state François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy. It is, however, not yet known whether President Emmanuel Macron will join the parade.

“It’s obviously going to be a massive operation,” a police union official told BFM TV.

Security “bubbles” will be set up in areas where politicians will circulate, while the march and the route will be monitored closely, with police and security forces in attendance.

The march is due to get under way at 3pm on Sunday, at the Esplanade des Invalides, taking a route leading to the National Assembly and the Senate.

The march has sparked a bitter political divide after Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National announced that it would take part, leading to the far-left La France Insoumise withdrawing. 

Yonathan Arfi, president of the national council of Jewish groups in France, accused Le Pen and her party of exploiting the event, saying: “We do not want people who are heirs to a party founded by former collaborators to be present

“By announcing that it would participate in this demonstration, RN knew that it would create controversy, that it would divert the demonstration from its main object which is the fight against anti-Semitism.”

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

ELECTIONS

Explained: The French leftist alliance’s programme for government

In an unexpected result, the leftist alliance the Nouveau Front Populaire topped the polls in France's snap elections on Sunday. The situation is complicated and lengthy negotiations are expected in order to form the next government - but what kind of policies can we expect from a government with an NFP heart?

Published: 8 July 2024 14:27 CEST
Explained: The French leftist alliance's programme for government

The final results, released on Monday morning by the Interior Ministry show the Nouveau Front Populaire in the lead with 182 seats, followed by Macron’s centrists on 168, the far-right Rassemblement National in third on 143 and the centre-right Les Républicains in fourth with 45 seats.

However no party won the 289 seats required for a majority in parliament – the likely result will be a lengthy period of political wrangling while the parties try to form coalitions or alliances that will get them the required majority.

READ ALSO What happens now in France after bombshell election results?

While we don’t know exactly what the new French government will look like – or when to expect it – the left will certainly play a role.

So what kind of policies can we expect from them?

Alliance

The complicating factor in this is that Nouveau Front Populaire is not a single party – it’s an alliance of four parties and it covers quite a political range, from the centre-left Parti Socialiste (party of former presidents François Hollande and François Mitterand) through the Green party to the hard-left La France Insoumise and the Communists.

Within that alliance, La France Insoumise got 77 seats, Parti Socialiste 54, Greens 28 and Communists 9.

La France Insoumise tends to get the most press coverage, partly because it’s the biggest but also because of its charismatic firebrand leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. But it should be remembered that this is a coalition, not a single party. 

It includes Mélenchon but also ex president François Hollande (elected as an MP in Corrèze), Marine Tondelier of the Greens and the popular Euro-election leader Raphaël Glucksmann.

Much depends on whether the group manages to keep its fragile alliance together and agree on a candidate to nominate as prime minister, as well as whether Emmanuel Macron’s group succeeds in splitting the leftist group and making an alliance with the more centre-left elements.

But with all those caveats in mind, here’s a look at their policies;

Programme 

As you would expect from such a broad group, there are significant points of difference between the parties.

The group did, however, manage to agree on a joint manifesto for these elections – albeit leaving conspicuously vague the areas that the parties disagree on most, especially when they relate to foreign policy.

Here’s the main priorities for a Nouveau Front Populaire government;

Cancellations – much of the programme is concerned with cancelling recent Macronist laws. Among the laws it says it wants cancel is the new immigration bill – the one that introduces French language tests for certain types of residency card and raises the language level required for French citizenship.

Also set for the chop are Macron’s changes to unemployment benefits (albeit that the Macronists themselves paused this reform in the run-up to the election) plus a cancellation of the price rises in electricity and gas and the reintroduction of the ‘wealth tax’ scrapped by Macron in 2018.

The big cause on the left in recent years has been Macron’s pension reforms raising the pension age from 62 to 64. These were finally rammed through parliament using special powers in 2023, following months of protests.

The Nouveau Front Populaire wants to not only cancel the reform, but the drop the standard pension age further, down to 60.

Immigration – the group’s policies are good ones for immigrants in France or those hoping to move here some day.

In addition to – as mentioned – scrapping the new immigration law, the manifesto also proposes introducing a 10-year carte de séjour residency card ‘as the standard card’ – at present the standard model is for one-year cards initially and then move on to five-year and then 10-year cards, although there are significant variations based on your personal status (eg working, student, retired or family member).

The left’s key policy during the immigration debates in January was the regularisation of thousands of ‘sans papiers’ or undocumented workers, by introducing an amnesty for people who are already in France and working in key sectors such as construction or healthcare.

Economy – The group would raise the Smic (minimum wage) to €1,600 a month. There would also be a range of measures aimed at tackling the rising cost of living with an increase in various forms state aid to low-income households.

Economists say that the group’s programme is uncosted and could result in a worsening of France’s deficit or even a financial crash similar to the one seen in the UK in response to ex prime minister Liz Truss’ disastrous budget.

Environment – Green policies form a key part of the Nouveau Front Populaire manifesto with a range of green incentives plus tax and financing rules that would clamp down on fossil fuels.

Foreign policy – On foreign policy there are some delicately worded compromises since views on Ukraine and Gaza had previously split the leftist alliance. The group promises to “unfailingly defend the sovereignty and freedom of the Ukrainian people” including by delivering weapons and writing off debt. On Gaza, the party would recognise the Palestinian state and embargo arms supplies to Israel.

Policy towards the EU – a topic that divides the groups within the alliance – is not mentioned in the manifesto.

SHOW COMMENTS