French President Francois Hollande sought to reassure French Jews of their secure future in the Republic as he made the keynote address to the Second Congress of Jewish Communities in France Sunday.
Speaking to delegates in Paris at the invitation of the Consistoire, he committed the state’s continued efforts in the “implacable struggle aginst anti-Semitism”, as he acknowledged French Jewry’s concerns for their safety in the aftermath of last March’s shooting of three Jewish children and a parent outside a Toulouse school by radical Muslim gunman Mohammed Merah, concluding that the some 600,000-strong Jewish community would continue to thrive, because “France is stronger than the hatred that seeks to divide us”.
Invoking the resurgence of France’s Jewish community post-Holocaust, during which period the Republic was occupied by Nazi Germany, Hollande reflected on past triumphs over oppression, as he looked to future in which “to support European Jewry is to show life can prevail over hatred, that hatred can always be fought”.
His words also recalled Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial call to French Jews on a state visit to Paris last November, when the Israeli leader provoked the ire of the French President by saying “come to Israel and make Israel your home”.
Whilst conceding he understood Netanyahu’s sentiment in positioning Israel as home to all Jews wishing to relocate, Hollande responded that “the place for Jews in France, if they should so choose, is to be in France, it’s to work in France, to live in France, in total security. And that is my goal”.
In the context of a joint press conference of the two world leaders to mark the Israeli Premier’s first visit to France of Hollande’s administration the French President added: “In response to your questions concerning native French Jews in France: my work is to protect all citizens, it’s to provide them with all the usual life conditions, it’s to allow them to be full citizens”.
“When a citizen’s security is called into question because he’s Jewish, all of France is under attack. Because here in France the principle we have long held dear, is that of secularism. We don’t distinguish between citizens according to their religion. We protect everyone,” he added.
The issue of state secularism was a key component of Hollande’s address to Sunday’s Congress, as he admitted it was “not always easy to achieve the right balance between freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and respect for equality, neutrality of public space”. France’s “laic” or secular laws are designed to guarantee the separation of religion and state, thereby keeping religion out of the public domain, but the President acknowledged this was a a “sensitive” issue for the Jewish community, when it infringed on their ability to observe religious rites, as he invoked the clashing of public school exams with Jewish religious festivals.
Shechita, or Jewish religious slaughter, also came in for discussion, in light of a wave of controversy over its continued practice across EU member states, with Holland reaching a controversial agreement with its Jewish community to preserve the ritual last year and the Estonian government’s threat to change its law on the practice to reflect “new scientific knowledge”.
European member states were required by European Regulation to replace their existing domestic laws on ritual slaughter by January 2013 and, as such, many governments have referred to the 2010 DialRel report, which found that claims that shechita causes higher levels of pain in the animal than other methods of slaughter that involve stunning, for scientific guidance in formulating their new policies.
“The Minister of Agriculture intends to maintain the framework - the laws of the Republic - in dialogue with religious communities,” vowed Hollande on the subject, as he reminded French Jewry of its history of “complying with state laws”.
Briefly referencing the Iranian nuclear threat, which Israel fears in turn will continue to harbour threats for its own existence, he warned that “it is not only Israel that is threatened but the entire region would be upset by this possible accession, not only the Middle East but Europe”, as he further highlighted France’s support for the EU designating Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which Israel claims is Iran’s proxy in terrorist acts against Israeli and western targets.
Rounding out his address, he sought to assuage the concerns of French Jews about their future place in France, as he concluded: “The Republic needs all of you, what you bring through your mind business, your commitment, your efforts, your talents, your merits. And you need the Republic and France because without it, you would not be what you are."