French MP Meyer Habib
French MP Meyer HabibReuters

French Jewish MP Meyer Habib appealed to French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl this week to demand the cancellation of an anti-Israeli demonstration planned for this weekend.

A number of left-wing anti-Zionist organizations are expected to hold a demonstration on Saturday (April 1) calling for a boycott of Israel. The demonstration was approved by the French authorities, provoking outrage among the French Jewish community.

"France is in a state of emergency, with 250 civilians killed in the last year and a half, and the French Jews were the first targets for the terrorists," Habib wrote to Fekl. "How in such a situation, can a demonstration against Israel and the Jews be allowed in the heart of Paris?"

In a letter sent last week, Habib recalled how the phrase "death to the Jews" and other anti-Semitic chants were heard at anti-Israel demonstrations in France during Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Habib further noted that the French law clearly prohibited any call for a boycott and stated that it is therefore not clear that the planned demonstration is legal.

Habib described the current situation in France at the end of his letter. "Mr. Minister, weakness and indecision are destroying the French Republic. We see it in the rise of extremist forces, the spread of radical Islam, the mass distribution of conspiracy theories - all united around a common obsession: hatred of Israel and the Jews. I ask again that this demonstration be banned."