The strength of the written word and the weight of words, rather than a passive presence in the midst of others. It is therefore through a letter to the French, that our newspaper Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France reveals exclusively, that Emmanuel Macron has chosen to speak on the eve of the great civic march against anti-Semitism organized this Sunday in Paris and in several cities of France. Six hundred and seventy words weighed with a trebuchet, taken up by the head of state until late Saturday afternoon, to reaffirm that whatever its nature, "religious, social, identity or racial, anti-Semitism is always as Émile Zola presented it: odious." And also to explain, in an indirect way, the reasons that led him not to take part in this citizen demonstration himself.
"My fellow citizens,
The October 7 terror attack by Hamas in Israel has sparked terror beyond borders. One thousand two hundred people were murdered with absolute cruelty. Forty of our compatriots have been victims of barbarism, eight are missing or held hostage. We are all bruised. All at the side of the families. All mobilized to obtain the release of all hostages.
To this pain of the nation has been added the unbearable resurgence of unbridled anti-Semitism. Whether religious, social, identity-based or racial, anti-Semitism is always as Émile Zola presented it: odious. In one month, more than a thousand anti-Semitic acts were committed on our soil. Three times as many acts of hatred against our Jewish compatriots in a few weeks as in the whole of last year.
Our Jewish compatriots are therefore legitimately anxious. Afraid to take their children to school. Fear of going home alone. Afraid to the point of erasing their name to protect themselves. As if grief were not enough, they are gripped by anguish and loneliness. It's as if past feelings passed on by their parents, their grandparents, suddenly resurfaced.
"A France where our Jewish fellow citizens are afraid is not France. A France where French people are afraid because of their religion or their origin is not France. »
Emmanuel Macron
A France where our Jewish fellow citizens are afraid is not France. A France where French people are afraid because of their religion or their origin is not France. That is why, in the name of the French people, our internal security forces and our magistrates are mobilized to give force to the law. In one month, hundreds of arrests have been made and dozens of legal proceedings have been opened. To bring anti-Semitism back to its rightful place: in the courts and behind bars. No tolerance for the intolerable. This fight against anti-Semitism must never divide us or lead to the pitting some of our compatriots against others. In our history, anti-Semitism has always been the prelude to other hatreds and racism.
The October 7 terror attack prompted an armed response from Israel. Israel, as I have said from day one, has the right to defend itself. There is no "yes but": putting Hamas out of action is a necessity. I have proposed an international initiative to that end, which must be accompanied by the resumption of political dialogue and the protection of civilians and hostages in Gaza, who cannot pay with their lives for the terrorists' bloodthirsty madness. That is why France is committed to building a humanitarian coalition, the first meeting of which was held on Thursday in Paris, during which we called for an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a ceasefire.
"We want justice, peace and security for the people of Israel, for the Palestinian people and for the states of the region. We want the unity of the French people. »
Emmanuel Macron
The terrorists' aim is to create divisions everywhere in order to fuel confrontation and chaos. We will not fall into this trap. We are the Nation of the Universal. A people who have never yielded anything of this simple principle, established by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: a life is worth a life. Beyond origins, backgrounds, beliefs, choices. We want justice, peace and security for the people of Israel, for the Palestinian people and for the States of the region. We want the unity of the French people.
I therefore see as a reason for hope the marches that are organized for the Republic, against anti-Semitism, for the release of hostages and for peace. They will express what is the very essence of the French project: the refusal of the assignment to difference. The Defense of Universalism. This fundamental idea that there are no communities, only citizens equal to citizens. Lives that are worth other lives. This is how France says when it comes to carrying a message of humanity. And on this path, in the moments we are living, nothing should divide us. France must remain united behind its values, its universalism, united for itself, to carry out its project and work for peace and security for all in the Middle East.
In thought and deed.
Emmanuel Macron »