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Poll: Nine in Ten French Students Have Been Subject to Anti-Semitic Acts

A new poll conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) for the Union of Jewish Students in France (UEJF) has revealed that nine in ten Jewish students in the country say they have been subjected to anti-Semitic acts at least once during their studies.

For the survey, IFPO interviewed over 1400 students – 405 of which identified as Jews – about their experience on campus, Jewish News reported Tuesday.

A shocking 89% of Jewish students said they had experienced anti-Semitic acts at least on one occasion during their studies. These experiences included hateful tropes about Jews and jokes about the Holocaust, as well as anti-Semitic acts of aggression.

While 85% of Jewish students reported that they were subjected to at least one remark containing tropes about Jews, 75% spoke of “jokes about the Holocaust or Jews.” In addition, a shocking 19% of Jews polled for the survey said they experienced “antisemitic aggressions.”

However, only 1% of Jewish students subjected to anti-Semitic acts said that they had pressed charges against the perpetrators.

Following a series of anti-Semitic incidents, including the desecration of Jewish graves in the northwestern state of Alsace, thousands of people across France recently joined rallies opposing anti-Semitism in the country.

In Paris, former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy participated in a rally that was led by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. President Emanuel Macron and parliamentary leaders attended a vigil at the Shoah Memorial in the French capital.

At a news conference, Macron said, “Every time a French person, because he or she is Jewish, is insulted, threatened — or worse, injured or killed — the whole Republic” is attacked.”

The show of concern came after the French Interior Ministry announced in February that the number of anti-Semitic acts in the country soared in 2018, jumping a whopping 74% compared to the previous year.

[Photo: DW / YouTube ]