Chirac urges respect, tolerance to bring an end to anti-Semitic attacks
Mon Apr 15, 8:02 AM ET
PARIS - President Jacques Chirac on Monday asked people to show respect and tolerance to help bring an end to a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in France and restore "national cohesion."
"I want to call on everyone to rise above their difficulties and respect others, to have dialogue, tolerance and moderation," Chirac told France-Inter radio. "It's not by adding fuel to the fire that we can simplify or improve the situation."
As tensions have heightened in the Mideast, synagogues, schools and cemeteries around the country have been targeted by attacks, often with firebombs. In the most serious case, a synagogue in the southern city of Marseille was burned to the ground on March 31.
Police have said that no organized element seems to be behind the attacks, which have heightened tensions between French Jews and the country's large Muslim community.
"Naturally, we must condemn these acts," Chirac said. "Beyond that, we have to defend our national cohesion."
(parf-ad-kh)
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