French Jews and Muslims, usually suspicious of each other because of frequent attacks against Jews, have joined forces following a large-scale desecration of their gravesites on the eve of the recent Id al-Adha Muslim holiday.
They plan to march together in Paris on Sunday to protest the spraying of swastikas and anti-Muslim slogans on five hundred Muslim graves and nearly two dozen Jewish graves at the Notre-Dame de Lorette military cemetery, the burial site of approximately 30,000 soldiers who fought in the First World War.
Neo-Nazi slogans, including "Heil Hitler," were sprayed on rows of headstones.
Last year, vandals smashed dozens of Jewish gravestones in northern France shortly before the Passover holiday, and Muslim graves were attacked in two other incidents.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the latest attack, calling it "a revolting act" and specifically mentioned the Muslim graves, labeling the desecration an "expression of repugnant racism aimed at France's Muslim community." He did not mention the desecration of the Jewish graves at the cemetery.
Police are carrying out an intensive investigation amid shockwaves that echoed throughout the country and prompted far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen to call the attacks "indecent." However, he also railed against the "concert of politico-media indignation, which we hear when there's a question concerning Muslim or Jewish tombs."