The French National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament, passed a resolution Dec. 3 stating that anti-Zionism can manifest itself into anti-Semitism.
The resolution, which garnered 154 votes in favor and 72 against, says, “Anti-Zionist acts can sometimes obscure anti-Semitic realities. Criticizing the very existence of Israel as a collective composed of Jewish citizens is tantamount to hatred towards the Jewish community as a whole.” The resolution goes onto say that “anti-Zionism [is] ‘one of the contemporary forms of anti-Semitism’ in the words of [French President Emmanuel Macron].”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz applauded the resolution’s passage.
“The adoption of the resolution confirms President Macron’s remarks that anti-Zionism is the new face of anti-Semitism,” Katz said in a statement. “This is an important step in the struggle against anti-Semitism, and I call on other countries to follow in France’s footsteps.”
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, “To combat hate, we have to properly identify it. Thank you to the French parliament for taking another step in the fight against #antiSemitism today, adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (@TheIHRA) Working Definition of Anti-Semitism.”
To combat hate, we have to properly identify it.
Thank you to the French parliament for taking another step in the fight against #antiSemitism today, adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (@TheIHRA) Working Definition of Anti-Semitism. https://t.co/4OBo1zu0xT— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) December 3, 2019
American Jewish Committee Paris Director Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache said in a statement, “The National Assembly’s endorsement of the working definition is a very welcome and significant boost to France’s determination to recognize the dangers to our society of rising antisemitism and to more effectively fight hatred of Jews in all its forms.”
