FRENCH ANTI-SEMITISM 'EXPLODED': On March 27, according to Agence France Presse (AFP), the French National Consultative Committee on Human Rights (CNCDH), released its annual report on racism in France. Sickeningly, the report revealed that in 2002 there was a "six-fold increase over 2001 in acts of violence against Jewish property and persons. Of 313 acts of racist violence documented in 2002, 193 were anti-Semitic." "If the increase of attacks aimed at the immigrant community is significant, the quantity of attacks aimed at the Jewish community has truly exploded," CNCDH reported. "In a second category of racists acts-threats, graffiti, and insults-731 out of 992 incidents were aimed at the Jewish community," said AFP. "Last month concern over the growing number of anti-Jewish incidents in schools led Education Minister Luc Ferry to launch a nationwide awareness campaign, including the creation of a monitoring committee in Paris and a team of mediators to step in where there is trouble. 'There is a real danger-all the greater because today anti-Semitism is of a new type, coming from parts of society that are more acceptable than the extreme right: from Arabs and Muslims,' he said."
CHIRAC SETS RECORD: French President Jacques Chirac has been playing up his opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq to a French audience that is almost delirious in approving the French leadership's anti-Americanism. "Opinion polls in France show that approval for Jacques Chirac's anti-war policy has reached 90%, the highest recorded rating for any government programme since surveys started here in 1938," reports The Guardian of London. "At the same time there has been a swing in support for Mr. Chirac from the country's five million Muslims who are now at the forefront of the marches," said The Guardian.
FRENCH FOR SADDAM: Le Monde last week asked Frenchmen if they wanted "deep down a victory for the U.S. and the English." Fifty-three percent admitted they wanted their old allies to win. But 33% said they did not, and 14% gave no response.
ANOTHER NO RESPONSE: On March 26, speaking at the Institute for Strategic Studies in London, French Foreign Minister Dominque de Villepin twice would not say he wanted the U.S. and Britain to win the war. In the opening of his prepared speech, Villepin said: "I am speaking to you at a decisive moment in our history. At a serious moment, when the United Kingdom is engaged in the military operations in Iraq. I naturally wish that this conflict finds a swift conclusion with the minimum possible number of casualties." Later, in a question-and-answer period, Villepin was asked: "You said you wished to see the war end quickly. Would you tell us who it is that you wish to see win the war quickly? . . ." Villepin responded: "Well. The first part of the question I am not going to answer because I believe you have not listened carefully to what I have said before. There is no need for me to answer the question, because you have already the answer." Three days later Villepin moved to control the damage-but only through his spokesman, who said France's position was "totally devoid of ambiguity." "I will remind you that the minister said on March 24 . . . 'The United States, we hope, will win this war quickly,'" said spokesman Francois Rivasseau. On Tuesday, Villepin said directly: "In the war, this responsibility naturally leads France to stand at the side of its allies, on the side of the democracies."
WAR CEMETERY DESECRATED: The Etaples war cemetery in France, final resting place for 11,000 British soldiers who gave their lives in World War I to defend French freedom, was desecrated last week. The Daily Mail reported: "Smeared in French on the left of the monument at the Etaples war graves are the words: 'Dig up your rubbish. It's fouling our soil.' Spelled out in English in the middle are 'Rosbeefs go home' and 'Saddam will win and spill your blood.' And beneath a swastika they wrote 'Death to Yankees', and 'Bush, Blair to the TPI', the French abbreviation for the International Court of Justice." After the desecration, AFP quoted French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin as warning the French "not to choose the wrong enemy." Reported AFP: "Concern about the reaction of the country's large Arab population-mainly made up of immigrants from North Africa-has played a large role in France's opposition to the war. . . ."
