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PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron urged the French to “stay united” Thursday as the country has seen a spat of antisemitic violence since Hamas launched its attacks against Israel.
During a televised address, the French president condemned Hamas’ attacks, which have claimed some 1,200 lives, saying “the scale, barbarity and inhumanity” has “no precedent” in Israel’s history.
Macron also addressed fears that the conflict would be exported to France, which has large Muslim and Jewish populations. He said the country’s “first duty” was to protect French Jews from attacks and discrimination.
There have been over 100 antisemitic acts recorded in France since Saturday, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, and police have been deployed to protect Jewish schools and places of worship. The Speaker of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, who is Jewish, has been granted police protection.
“I see the fear of our Jewish fellow countrymen that the surge in violence over there will be used as an excuse to justify words, slander or acts against them [in France],” Macron said.
France has the largest Jewish community in Europe, numbering almost 500,000, and one of the largest Muslim communities in Europe, an estimated 5 million. In his address, Macron said he understood “the worries among Muslims that people will be making assumptions about them.”
Earlier Thursday, Darmanin announced a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations in France.
The minister sent “strict instructions” to ban “pro-Palestinian demonstrations because they are likely to generate public order disturbances,” according to a document originally seen by AFP and reported on by other French media.
“The organization of these prohibited demonstrations should lead to arrests,” Darmanin said.
The French president also said at least 13 French citizens were confirmed to have been killed in the attacks and 17 more “adults and children” are missing, “without doubt some of them are held hostage.”
Macron vowed that France would do everything to ensure the release of the hostages held by Hamas. “I want to say that we will do everything to ensure that these hostages, whatever their nationality, are released,” he said.
