(JTA) — French Jews said anti-Semitism in their country had become a “daily occurrence” after Prime Minister Edouard Philippe revealed a 69 percent increase in documented hate crimes targeting that minority.
While figures “had been down for two years, the number of these acts increased by more than 69 percent in the first nine months of 2018,” Philippe wrote on Facebook.
He provided no further statistics in the statement published late Thursday, in which he commemorated the Kristallnacht pogroms of 1938 in Germany and Austria against Jews.
The acts that constituted the statistic Philippe did offer include “the most violent incidents, and they reflect the perseverance of anti-Semitism and its development into a daily occurrence,” the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities wrote in a statement.
Philippe wrote that “Every assault perpetrated against one of our fellow citizens because they are Jewish resonates like a new Kristallnacht.” He added that his government is determined to protect French Jews, including by improving how complaints to police are made and processed.
The annual report by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights for 2016 counted 335 anti-Semitic incidents compared to 808 the previous year — the sharpest drop on record since 2001.
