French Jews Working with Arabs to Combat Racism from Right

The organized French Jewish community has joined with Arabs from North Africa and other newly arrived immigrants to France to fight the growing anti-foreigner campaign by right-wing groups, Theo Klein, president of the Representative Council of French Jewry (CRIF), told an audience of Jewish leaders here.

Klein spoke at a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “Racism is racism, whether it is directed against Jews or Arabs or any minority group, “he said. “For that reason, we feel a sense of solidarity with the immigrant population, many of whom are Arabs. And we long ago learned that we cannot ask the non-Jewish world to join our struggle against anti-Semitism if we ourselves are blind to racist attacks against other groups.”

Klein singled out Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the rightwing National Front, as the most prominent figure in the anti-foreigner campaign in France. Le Pen has been accused of anti-Semitism and some of his associates are known anti-Semites. He “says he is not anti-Semitic,” Klein observed. “At the same time, however, he makes clear he has no use for Jewish artists or for Jewish culture or for Mme. Simone Veil,” the former President of the Parliament of Europe and a former member of the French Cabinet who is an Auschwitz survivor.

JEWS POLITICALLY ACTIVE

Klein noted that with a population of 700,000, the French Jewish community is the largest Jewish community in Europe outside the Soviet Union and the most politically active. He said Jews are identified with both major political parties and are considered an influential voting bloc. The only party in France with no Jewish support is Le Pen’s National Front, he said.

According to Klein, who practices law in Paris, President Francois Mitterrand is the “best President French Jewry has ever had or is likely to have.” He described the community’s relations with the government as “excellent” and said Mitterrand “knows Israel, understands the Jewish community and has warm relations with both — even if he does not necessarily agree with Israel on the Palestinian question.”

Klein was invited by Mitterrand to accompany the French delegation he led to Moscow last year as the President’s personal guest. While not a member of the official delegation, he was present at official functions, including the farewell dinner in the Kremlin. He also met with Jewish refuseniks in the Soviet capital. “I came as a representative of the Jewish community, not as a personal friend of the President. The Soviets knew that it was a symbolic act by Mr. Mitterrand to invite me to Moscow,” the French Jewish leader said.