A large march against antisemitism is taking place this afternoon on Paris and in which a part of the French radical left will not participate to protest against the presence of the extreme right.

The march is expected to be a response to the explosion in the number of acts of hostility against Jews in France following the massacres committed by Hamas on October 7 in Israel and the Israeli military response that followed.

Other demonstrations and marches are expected in the rest of the country.

In his letter published by the newspaper Le Parisien, the French president Emmanuel Macron he appealed for unity, saying the fight against anti-Semitism “must never divide us or ever lead us to pit some of our countrymen against others”.

However, the participation of the far-right National Alarm (RN) formation in these events causes some to react.

The representative of the French government Olivier Veran he thus denounced “a political party created by the heirs of Vichy”, referring to its history of collaboration with the Nazis during the Second World War.

For her part, the head of the RN and former candidate in the presidential elections Marine Le Pen he believes that the march should “unite” the French around the rejection of both anti-Semitism and “Islamic fundamentalism, which is a totalitarian ideology”.

Another far-right party, Reconquête (Recovery), is also set to join the march.

The radical left formation La France insoumise LFI, which is accused of ambivalence about anti-Semitism, will boycott the demonstration due to the presence of the National Alert. But some members are expected to participate in other initiatives, in Paris or elsewhere in France.

Always on the left, the parties Europe Ecology-Greens, Socialist Party and Communist Party are expected to demonstrate behind the same banner “against anti-Semitism and all that brings hatred and racism”, forming a “democratic cordon” against the extreme right They want to naturally separate the extreme right from the rest of the demonstration.

Numerous representatives of faiths will also be present, but Muslims are expected to be few, as organizations have lamented the absence of any reference to Islamophobia from the call for the demonstration.

An event for Palestine is targeted by far-right extremists, 3 slightly injured

Three people were slightly injured Saturday night in Lyon (central-eastern France) when far-right extremists tried to storm a pro-Palestine event, police and witnesses said.

An alleged far-right extremist was arrested, the prefecture’s police department said, “strongly condemning the violence committed”.

At about 8:00 p.m., there was still a massive presence of law enforcement and fire engines at the site that became the target, an AFP reporter at the scene found.

Christoph Oberlen, a surgeon who has repeatedly participated in humanitarian missions in the Gaza Strip and was due to present his latest two books, described how far-right extremists “beat with clubs” on the door of the hall where the event was being held to break it down, however they were unable to break it down. come in

Participants spoke of an “overcrowded” hall, which has a capacity of “120 seats”. Among those present were children and the elderly. According to them, a window was broken.

Jerome Fainel, president of the Palestine 69 collective, which organized the event, said he intended to file a lawsuit. “This is about the extreme right,” which attacked “with crowbars” and “glass bottles,” he said.

“We were locked in,” said a visibly stressed participant who spoke to AFP, adding that those present at the event used everything they could to “block the door”.

Some 1,200 people marched yesterday afternoon in Lyon against the extreme right, responding to the collective call supported in particular by the party La France insoumise (radical left) and anti-fascist movements.