French party to be dissolved following suggestions that Jews should not be French citizens

Gerald Darmanin, France’s Interior Minister, has asked his Ministry to dissolve Civitas, an ultra-Catholic, far-right political party, following inflammatory remarks about Jews. 

During a seminar last month, Pierre Hillard, one of the party’s members, spoke about the rights of religious minorities in France prior to the French Revolution in 1789, when Jews could not become French citizens as they were considered “heretics”. 

Mr Hillard then said: “Maybe we should go back to how things were before 1789.”

In response to the comments, Mr Darmanin tweeted: “Antisemitism has no place in our country…I have asked my services to instruct the dissolution of Civitas.” 

Civitas was originally formed as an organisation in 1999 until it achieved political party status in 2016. According to its website, Civitas “revolves around three fundamental pillars of prayer, training and action”. 

According to a report published by the French Jewish Community Security Service, antisemitic incidents in France have skyrocketed. 

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism in France and throughout Europe.