Paris, June 7, 2004

The inquiry is moving forward, it’s currently in the phase, obviously, the difficult phase, when we’re looking for witnesses, looking for some clues. We arrested an initial suspect who has been released and we’re continuing to work on it. Since the beginning of the year, 76 people have been arrested for anti-Semitic acts : that shows to what extent we’re mobilized.

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Yes. There was a sharp rise in anti-Semitic acts in 2002, then a drop in 2003. I think the consensus expressed on the war in Iraq has helped, very broadly, to reduce this number and also the mobilization of our security forces.

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It goes back to the first quarter of 2004. We recorded 67 anti-Semitic acts in the first quarter of 2004 compared with 34 in the corresponding period last year. I believe that international tensions are very much a factor, the tensions throughout the Middle East. There is a direct effect in our communities, in our national community. Of course, there are several sources, you know, of anti-Semitism: old sources such as small neo-Nazi groups; there are also groups with ties to immigration that are upset by the entire international situation.

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Of course, and I understand and share that sense of horror, and at the same time the concern that the Jewish community feels. And the government s policy from that point of view is absolutely firm. Not only do we condemn the hateful acts which are characteristic of anti-Semitic acts, we are also mobilized on all fronts.

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Here’s where we have to keep calm in the face of these types of act. The right diagnosis has to be made. The right diagnosis is that the increase in anti-Semitic acts parallels a threat which is itself growing on the international scene. So understanding the causes is already part of the way to a solution.

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Absolutely. We’ve met with the prefects and they’ve been given extremely strict instructions. As was the case in Boulogne, the prefects, in liaison with the Jewish community, are holding meetings precisely so that the special requests of these communities can be taken into account more. We are organizing monitoring units with security forces in each department so we can resolve problems more effectively.

We are also increasing and expanding protection for places of worship, schools, synagogues, religious schools so as to reduce the area of uncertainty. But as you know, this must not prevent the national community from also doing its job. Of course the security forces must be vigilant, of course the state must do the maximum. The prime minister has set up an inter-ministry committee to fight anti-Semitism and racism. But the entire international community is also concerned. President Chirac has said: « When a Jew is attacked in France, our entire national community is attacked. » That shows that the response has to come from the very heartland of our country.

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Each case is specific. Let’s take the example of Boulogne-Billancourt where we arrested five of the perpetrators in the attack on the rabbi’s son in Boulogne. Of these youths, four out of the five were under 18; the youngest and probably one of the most determined was 14 and a half. Well, what did we do? They were put under judicial investigation, placed under judicial control, removed from Boulogne and placed with families in the interior of France. The responses have to be adapted, and when the responses are not satisfactory, because we must constantly revisit the measures we have--the Lellouche Act was progress but it has not been sufficiently applied--we must go further. But I would like to address a message to the French people—it’s not by chance that there is a rise in anti-Semitism in our country. It is unacceptable. So let’s give ourselves the means to address it, and we have a duty, the duty of the national community towards each of our fellow citizens.

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