Chief Rabbi of France Jacob Kaptan yesterday denounced racism and appealed for “human brotherhood,” in response to the recent resurgence of anti-Arab sentiment in France–Rabbi Kaplan made the appeal in the town of Nancy at a ceremony in memory of those deported during World War II.
Referring to racial reprisals which cost the lives of seven Algerian workers following the murder of a Marseilles bus driver by a mentally ill Algerian worker, Rabbi Kaplan said such racist acts “risk becoming a grave danger for those wh do not act in time to thwart them.”
Rabbi Kaplan, taking as his subject the commandment, “Thou shall love thy neighbor as thy self,” said: “Our neighbors are not only other Jews, but also, Christians and Moslems, not only white men but black men as well, not only Europeans but men throughout the world.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
