The rise in racism and anti-Semitism in France represents "a radical threat to the survival of our democratic system", according to a report presented to the French Interior Minister on Tuesday. The report by Jean-Christophe Rufin, a humanitarian aid specialist and novelist, said "a specific armory" was urgently needed to fight the growing risk of racist and anti-Semitic sentiments giving birth to "organized political forces". French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said the police had recorded 123 racist attacks and 294 threats in France in the first nine months of 2004, as well as 166 anti-Semitic attacks and 584 threats. The totals were higher than for the whole of last year and were "utterly unacceptable in a country like ours", he said.
Rufin, who based his conclusions on police data and a large number of interviews, said that contrary to popular belief the majority of anti-Semitic acts in France were not carried out by supporters of the far right and disaffected youths of north African origin. "Anti-Semitic acts are the work of a far more diverse group of French people who use Jews as their scapegoats," he said. "Attacks and threats against French Jews are a social phenomenon at once new, evident and extremely preoccupying."