Anti-Semitism continues to exist in France but has steeply decreased over the last few years, according to a public opinion poll published here by the Socialist weekly, “Le Matin de Paris.” The poll reveals that the average Frenchman dislikes other minorities such as the Blacks, the Arabs, the Protestants and the Portuguese more than he dislikes the Jews.
When asked what minorities they dislike, 46 percent of those questioned said, the Blacks; 25 percent, the Protestants; 24 percent, the Arabs; and 23 percent, the Portuguese compared to 22 percent who mentioned the Jews. Those questioned could give more than one answer which explains why the total is over 100 percent.
On a personal level, 68 percent said they “did not mind” having a Jewish son-in-law and 63 percent did not mind having a Jew serve as France’s President. The figures of the last similar poll in 1966 gave 49 percent and 38 percent for these some questions, respectively.
The only question to which the answers showed a certain suspicion of Jews was: “In case of trouble to whom would their loyally go: France or Israel?” Thirty-eight percent of those questioned said Israel as against 18 percent who believed it would be France.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
