(JTA) — French philosopher and writer Alain Finkielkraut was came under a verbal anti-Semitic attack by Yellow Vest protesters in central Paris.
The incident on Saturday was captured on camera, with protesters yelling “Dirty Jew,” “you’re a hater, you’re going to die, you’re going to hell,” “Dirty Zionist,” “France is ours,” and “return to Tel Aviv.” Police intervened to protect Finkielkraut.
French President Emmanuel Marcon condemned the attack in a series of tweets. “The anti-Semitic insults he has been subjected to are the absolute negation of what we are and what makes us a great nation. We will not tolerate it,” Macron tweeted.
“The son of Polish immigrants who became a French academician, Alain Finkielkraut is not only a prominent man of letters but the symbol of what the Republic allows everyone,” he also tweeted.
The Paris prosecutor’s office on Sunday said an investigation has been launched into the “public insult based on origin, ethnicity, nationality, race or religion.”
Finkielkraut, 69, has expressed support in the past for the social movement. His philosophical writing mostly discusses identity-based violence, including antisemitism.
The Yellow Vests began in the fall as a series of protests against a hike on fuel prices but has been mired since in countless instances of violence against police and a substantial amount of anti-Semitic hate speech.
The incident comes a week after a series of anti-Semitic incidents throughout Paris.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
