France interior minister ups security at synagogues in wake of Paris attack Special protection ordered for Yom Kippur after 2 wounded in stabbing during trial over 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo and kosher market

 

France interior minister ups security at synagogues in wake of Paris attack

Special protection ordered for Yom Kippur after 2 wounded in stabbing during trial over 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo and kosher market

By TOI STAFF26 September 2020, 1:35 pm  0

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Illustrative -- French police officer guards the synagogue of Biarritz, southwestern France, Jan. 13, 2015 (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Friday that he had ordered an increase in security at synagogues following a stabbing attack in Paris outside the former offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

“I have given instructions that all symbolic sites that have experienced attacks be protected,” Darmanin said in an interview with the France 2 television network. “During this weekend and on Monday, a particularly important festival for our Jewish compatriots, I also asked for special protection of synagogues.”

Two people were critically wounded in Friday’s attack near Charlie Hebdo’s former offices in the French capital’s 11th district. The magazine’s new address is kept secret.

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Darmanin said the attack was “clearly an act of Islamist terrorism.”

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin delivers a speech on the state of terrorism threat at the French General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) in Paris, Aug. 31, 2020. (Stephen de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

It came during the trial of 14 alleged accomplices of brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, the perpetrators of the 2015 attack on the satirical weekly that was claimed by a branch of Al-Qaeda. Twelve people, including some of France’s most celebrated cartoonists, were killed in the shooting attack on January 7, 2015.

A female police officer was killed a day later, followed the next day by the killing of four men in a hostage-taking at a Jewish supermarket by gunman Amedy Coulibaly.

A total of seven people are now being held in connection with Friday’s attack, including the “main perpetrator,” who was arrested not far from the scene, prosecutors said.

Police officers gather in the area of a knife attack near the former offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, September 25, 2020 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

France’s PNAT specialist anti-terror prosecution office said it had opened a probe into charges of “attempted murder related to a terrorist enterprise” against him as well as “conspiracy with terrorists.”

According to PNAT head Jean-Francois Ricard, the suspect was an 18-year-old man. Initial indications were that he was born in Pakistan.

Charlie Hebdo has angered many Muslims around the world by publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed over the years, and in a defiant gesture reprinted some of the caricatures ahead of the trial.

AFP contributed to this report.

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Knesset, parliaments across the world form antisemitism task force The task force hope to work on consistent policies for their countries related to hate speech, and to hold social media platforms, such as twitter, TikTok, Facebook and Google accountable.

 

Knesset, parliaments across the world form antisemitism task force

The task force hope to work on consistent policies for their countries related to hate speech, and to hold social media platforms, such as twitter, TikTok, Facebook and Google accountable.

By LAHAV HARKOV   

SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 18:05

   

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(photo credit: REUTERS)

Lawmakers from Israel, the US, the UK, Canada and Australia launched the Inter-Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism on Tuesday.

“Over the last several years, there has been an alarming increase in antisemitic incidents across the globe, with many originating online,” the parliamentarians wrote in a joint statement, adding that they are working across the globe – and party lines – because “social media posts do not stop at international borders.”

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Blue and White MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh is a founding member of the task force, along with Members of the US Congress Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Ted Deutch of the Democratic Party and Chris Smith of the Republican Party. In Canada, there is MP Anthony Housefather of the Liberal Party and Conservative MP Marty Morantz, and in Australia there is Josh Burns of Labour and Liberal MP Dave Sharma. Representing the UK are MPs Andrew Percy (Conservative) and Alex Sobel (Labour and Co-Operative). They plan to expand the group to more politicians and more countries after the launch.

The task force hopes to work on consistent policies for their countries related to hate speech, and to hold social media platforms, such as Twitter, TikTok, Facebook and Google accountable.

The lawmakers also hope to raise awareness about online antisemitism, and hope that the policies they advance will help protect all minority groups from hate.

They also seek to underscore the nonpartisan nature of the fight against antisemitism in democratic countries.

“By working with multi-partisan allies in parliaments around the world,” Cotler-Wunsh said, “we hope to create best practices and real change in holding the social media giants accountable to the hatred that exists on their platforms.

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“It is imperative that we work together to expose the double standards,” the Blue and White MK added.

Smith, a Republican, warned specifically against “Alt-Right groups such as The Base and Atomwaffen Division, along with Russia’s Internet Research Agency” spreading antisemitic content online.

“We need to be ever vigilant with regard to all forms of antisemitic hatred, whether it comes from the alt-Right, the political Left, or Islamist groups,” he said.

Deutch warned that “it has never been easier than now for antisemites to connect and spread hateful propaganda using social media. These platforms have a responsibility to ensure that they are not being used freely by purveyors of hate.”

Burns pointed out that in times of upheaval, throughout history, people have sought to blame Jews for their societies’ ills.

“This task force is an important step to coalesce allies to combat the bigotry that is occurring in the dark corners of society, especially online,” he said.

Sobel, who is Jewish, said he has experienced antisemitism.

“Overt slurs are easier to recognize and report, but antisemitism is often insidious and harder to root out. Antisemitic conspiracy theories are rife on social media, with many subscribers not realizing the antisemitic roots and implications of QAnon and other right-wing conspiracy theories,” he said.

Though Sobel highlighted right-wing antisemitism, he represents the left-wing Labour party, which was recently investigated by the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission for antisemitism under its former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

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