Ilan Halimi remembered in France as the fight against hate continues

The 2019 Ilan Halimi award was given for the first time to Dijon High School students who jointly created a project about genocide in the 20th century.

By HAGAY HACOHEN
Collège Clos-de-Pouilly à Dijon students awarded the Ilan Halimi award with French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe in the middle of the top row. (photo credit: FLORIANDAVID@MATIGNON)
Collège Clos-de-Pouilly à Dijon students awarded the Ilan Halimi award with French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe in the middle of the top row.
(photo credit: FLORIANDAVID@MATIGNON)
Ilan Halimi, the French-Jewish youth who was murdered at age 23 in Paris by a gang who believed 'all Jews have money' in 1996, was remembered on Wednesday when an award named after him was given to French high school students.
Halimi's mother, Ruth Halimi, expressed her hope that the award will "give hope to France." 
The Dijon High School students took on extra courses that focused on genocides in the 20th Century and Holocaust denial. After immersing themselves in these issues, they jointly created a series of lectures aimed at students under the headline "Understanding yesterday to comprehend today."
The students won after being pitted against 70 other groups around the French Republic. They were awarded the Ilan Halimi award by French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.
Honoring Halimi, the national award is presented on behalf of DILCRAH, a special joint-office of the French government that combats all forms of hate crimes, from antisemitism to racism and LGBT discrimination.

A tree honoring Halimi was uprooted in what French authorities view as a hate-crime, the Jewish Press reported on Tuesday.

"Facing the evil winds of antisemitism the Republic will stand strong like a dam," Deputy Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said, "it is her honor."