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Macron Pledges ‘Uncompromising’ Fight Against Antisemitism in Address to French Jewish Leaders
French President Emmanuel Macron receives a vintage poster from the infamous Dreyfus trial of the 1890s from Crif president Yonathan Arfi. Photo: Reuters/Yoan Valat
French President Emmanuel Macron pledged an “uncompromising” fight against the antisemitism that has erupted across France since the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in Israel in a speech to Jewish leaders on Monday evening.
Macron was speaking during a ceremony at the Élysée Palace marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of Crif, the umbrella organization representing the Jewish community in France. As well as Crif’s top leadership, several members of the French cabinet were also present, including Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.
Acknowledging Crif’s creation in Jan. 1944 as the Nazi occupation of France was faltering, Macron paid tribute to “Jews from all walks of life who came together to awaken a glimmer of hope.” However, he added that Monday’s ceremony conjured “mixed feelings” because of its proximity to the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in Israel, which the president described as “the worst antisemitic massacre of our century.”
Addressing the rise of antisemitism in France, where antisemitic outrages rose by over 1,000 percent in the final three months of 2023 compared with the previous year, with over 1,200 incidents reported, Macron declared: “Every time the slightest trace of antisemitism reappears, we will be as uncompromising as we have always been.”
Macron summarized the dilemma facing French Jews by saying, “The question that many ask, and I hear it: will they be able to be French and Jewish, believers or not, be called Sarah or Ilan, be active in a student association, display a mezuzah without being referred to an identity, summoned to explain yourself or even to step aside or run away? Will they be able to study in places of education that have sometimes become places of antisemitic impulses and imprecations? Will they be able to live in a country of memory and hope where the memory of the Shoah is carried and transmitted? Will they be able to live equal and fraternal?”
Macron also addressed the recent controversy at the elite Sciences Po university in Paris, where Jewish students claimed they were prevented from entering a lecture hall by pro-Hamas demonstrators. He said that an investigation into the incident had been opened and that “the government will ensure that the republican order is respected.” Last week, Crif issued a call for a parliamentary commission to examine rising antisemitism in French universities.
Crif President Yonathan Arfi — who presented Macron with a vintage poster from the 1890s proclaiming the innocence of Alfred Dreyfus, the French army officer falsely convicted of espionage in a landmark case that sparked antisemitic violence across France — sounded a slight note of discord in his response to the president. Referring to Macron’s recent remarks urging more international support for Ukraine as it battles the ongoing Russian invasion, Arfi asked whether Israel deserved “the same solidarity.”
Replying, Macron distinguished between solidarity with Israel and unconditional agreement with the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Defending and loving Israel, wanting its security, does not mean subscribing to all the choices of a democratic government of the moment,” he declared, adding a call for “a political solution without which there will never be peace and security for Israel.”
The post Macron Pledges ‘Uncompromising’ Fight Against Antisemitism in Address to French Jewish Leaders first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
The post Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
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Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
The post Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
The post Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.