France to Investigate Anti-Semitic Abuse From 'Yellow Vest' Protesters |
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VOA News
17 February 2019 (7:58AM)
PARIS — French prosecutors have opened an investigation Sunday into anti-Semitic comments made by Yellow Vest protesters against a renowned philosopher and intellectual a day earlier.
The Paris prosecutor's office said Sunday an investigation was launched into "public insult based on origin, ethnicity, nationality, race or religion," the Associated Press reported. A video broadcast on multiple French news channels shows peple hurling insults such as "dirty Zionists" and "France is ours" at Alain Finkielkraut.
Finkielkraut, 69, told French media that he had approached the protesters, who have held demonstrations in Paris for 14 consecutive Saturdays, out of curiosity. Finkielkraut had initially supported the movement, but called the protests "grotesque" after Saturday's incident.
French president Emmanuel Macron was among a wide range of politicians who denounced the comments.
"The anti-Semitic insults he has been subjected to are the absolute negation of who we are and what makes us a great nation. We will not tolerate them," Macron said on Twitter.
Les injures antisémites dont il a fait l’objet sont la négation absolue de ce que nous sommes et de ce qui fait de nous une grande nation. Nous ne les tolèrerons pas.https://t.co/WSUTuJmQWX
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 16, 2019