A political row has broken out over whether far right and radical left parties would take part in a protest march in Paris on Wednesday against the killing of an 85-year-old Jewish woman.
Investigating judges are treating the killing of Mireille Knoll, who reportedly narrowly escaped a wartime round-up of Paris Jews who were deported to Nazi death camps, as anti-Semitic.
Two men in their 20s have been arrested and placed under formal investigation in the case.
Francis Kalifat, head of the Jewish community umbrella group CRIF, on Tuesday said that leaders of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front and Jean-Luc Melenchon’s radical left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) would not be welcome at the march.
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There was an“over representation of anti-Semites on both the far right and the far left,’’ he argued on RTL radio, citing in particular left-wing support for a boycott of Israel demanded by Palestinian activists.
Both parties have called on their members to attend the march, as have politicians from across the political spectrum and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Knoll’s son Daniel Knoll distanced himself from CRIF’s position, saying: “We call on everyone to join the march, and I clearly say everyone, without exceptions.’’
“CRIF is engaged in politics,’’ he argued on RMC radio.“I open my heart to everyone, to everyone who has a mother, in other words absolutely everyone.’’