Mikael and Laurent hold a banner that alludes to one of the best-known and covered songs by French artist Charles Trenet: "Douce France, je t'aime, ne m'oblige pas à te quitter" (Sweet France, I love you, don't force me to leave you). Both are Jewish and do not rule out leaving the country where they were born if anti-Semitic acts continue. That's more than 1,500 in just over a month. "We don't want this future for our children, children are afraid to leave the house. When they get on the bus they are afraid to raise their heads, in case they are insulted," says Mikael, who laments that France (he paraphrases the song) is no longer "the beloved country of my childhood".

Several cities in France, including Paris, held marches on Sunday against the wave of anti-Semitism in recent weeks. The rallies have skyrocketed after the Hamas attacks on October 7 and the Israeli response. The country has the largest Jewish community in Europe, but also the Muslim one. Some also wanted to be in the streets this Sunday to claim "that there is no rupture, we defend the same cause and we have the same enemies, who are the enemies of life", says a man holding a flag that, according to him, represents "the Berber people and the countries of North Africa".

Sunday's demonstration, which was attended by political parties, government representatives and numerous personalities such as actress Natalie Portman, was controversial due to the absence of some and the presence of others. France Insoumise, the far-left party led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, did not participate and held its parallel march on Saturday, under the slogan "against the war in Gaza". The rest of the allies of the left bloc have done so: socialists, ecologists and communists, which is evidence of LFI's isolation.

The controversial presence was that of far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Anti-Semitism is at the origins of his party, founded by his father, Jean Marie Le Pen, who was convicted of anti-Semitism. A legacy that the current leader of the opposition wants to get rid of in this process of de-demonization: to normalize her discourse before the French and move away from the most radical positions.

March against anti-Semitism this Sunday in ParisR. V.

The Council of Representatives of Jewish Institutions (CRIJ) had opposed his attendance. "We are where we need to be," Marine Le Pen said. Members of Reconquete, the party led by the far-right Eric Zemmour, were also present.

"A party that has had strong links to anti-Semitism is not welcome here today," says Jean Marie, a member of the Golem collective, which was planning to boycott Le Pen's presence at the march. Some citizens of Jewish confusion do recognize "that change of course." "He's taken his father out of the party and there's been a process of rebuilding... If we have made a process of reconciliation with the Germans, why can't we do it with a party like Le Pen's, which rectifies?" "As a Jew, I can demonstrate with Le Pen, never with Mélenchon," says Sylvain.

At the head, several members of the government paraded in an overcast Paris in a rather silent march, only broken by applause when the banners were taken out paying tribute to the hostages and those killed by Hamas. In addition to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, several former presidents, such as Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, and opposition leaders and the presidents of the Assembly and Senate attended. More than 50 cities have held similar marches.

March against anti-Semitism this Sunday in ParisR. V.

The president, Emmanuel Macron, decided not to attend and to be "in thought". In a letter to the French published by Le Parisien, Macron called for unity and for there to be "no tolerance towards the intolerable": "A France in which Jews are afraid is not France," said Macron, who lamented "the unbearable resurgence of unbridled anti-Semitism."

More than 1150,<> anti-Semitic acts have been recorded in the past month, according to updated data provided by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. That's more than double the number in all of last year, for example. The last one was on Saturday, when several individuals dressed in black, with their faces covered and who are linked to the ultra-right tried to break up a conference on Palestine that was being held in Lyon.

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