French National Assembly adopts International Definition of Antisemitism

The French National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, has adopted the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomes this decision at a time of heightened antisemitism in France.

The French Parliament’s action follows President Emmanuel Macron’s call earlier this year for France to adopt the International Definition.

The motion proposed by Sylvain Maillard, from President Macron’s La République En Marche centrist party, passed by 154-72 votes.

The resolution stated: “For some years now, France, the whole of Europe, but also almost all Western democracies are facing a rise in antisemitism.” It continued: “Anti-Zionist acts can at times hide antisemitic realities. Hate toward Israel due to its perception as a Jewish collective is akin to hatred toward the entire Jewish community.”

The UK was the first country in the world to adopt the International Definition, something for which Campaign Against Antisemitism, Lord Eric Pickles and others worked hard over many meetings with officials at Downing Street. France joins a growing list of countries to use the International Definition, including Greece, which recently announced that it would adopted it.