French parliament to vote on whether hate of Israel is antisemitic

Maillard defended the draft, telling La Croix that in France today, saying “dirty Zionist”… "means ‘dirty Jew.’”

By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ/JTA
The French flag flies above the Grand Palais in Paris, France, June 24, 2017. (photo credit: REUTERS/JEAN-PAUL PELISSIER)
The French flag flies above the Grand Palais in Paris, France, June 24, 2017.
(photo credit: REUTERS/JEAN-PAUL PELISSIER)
The lower house of France’s parliament is scheduled to vote on a draft resolution that calls hate of Israel a form of antisemitism.
The 577 members of the National Assembly are set to vote Tuesday on the draft, which also calls on the government to join other European nations in adopting the definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
The IHRA definition states that some forms of vitriol against Israel, including comparing it to Nazi Germany, are examples of antisemitism, though criticizing Israel’s policies is not.
Lawmaker Sylvain Maillard of President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling LREM centrist party with his draft resolution has touched off weeks of debates in the French media.
In October, 39 organizations wrote an open letter to National Assembly President Richard Ferrand warning against passing the resolution. The letter argued against a separate definition of antisemitism, as it would “weaken the universalist approach” to combating all forms of racism and compromise the “defense of freedom of expression and assembly for groups and activists that must be allowed to defend the rights of Palestinians and criticize Israel’s policy without being falsely accused of antisemitism.”
Among its co-signatories was Malik Salemkour, president of France’s Human Rights League, an organization founded in 1898 to fight the antisemitic persecution and show trial of the French-Jewish army captain Alfred Dreyfus.
Maillard defended the draft, telling La Croix that in France today, saying “dirty Zionist”… “means ‘dirty Jew.’”
The draft denounces “hate toward Israel justified only by its perception as a Jewish collective.”