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President Jacques Chirac has asked media to avoid offending religious beliefs as a French newspaper today reprinted caricatures of the prophet Mohammed that have sparked violent protests in the Muslim world. Chirac said during a Cabinet meeting that he condemned “all obvious provocations likely to dangerously kindle passions”. “Everything that can offend the convictions of others – religious convictions in particular – must be avoided,” the French president said in remarks quoted by government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope. Earlier today, satirical French weekly paper Charlie-Hebdo reprinted the Mohammed drawings originally published by a Danish newspaper, as well as a new caricature...

PARIS, Jan. 31 — President Jacques Chirac has demanded that the United States sign both the Kyoto climate protocol and a future agreement that will take effect when the Kyoto accord runs out in 2012. He said that he welcomed last week’s State of the Union address in which President Bush described climate change as a “serious challenge” and acknowledged that a growing number of American politicians now favor emissions cuts. But he warned that if the United States did not sign the agreements, a carbon tax across Europe on imports from nations that have not signed the Kyoto treaty...

The Land of Enlightenment is fast becoming the land of darkness for France’s Jewish citizens. And many in the French Jewish community have been aware of this sad situation for some time, a realization that was reinforced by the attack on two synagogues by Muslim rioters in Paris last summer during the Gaza conflict. But the latest shocking, anti-Semitic crime that occurred early in December in the same city has deepened the community’s feeling that the possibility of living peaceful lives with a Jewish identity in France is rapidly disappearing. The latest outrage produced by France’s growing anti-Semitic climate, found...

French President Jacques Chirac told Israel at the start of the war in Lebanon that France would support an Israeli assault on Syria, it was reported on Sunday. Army Radio reported that in the message, which was delivered by Chirac to Israel via a secret channel, the French president suggested that Israel invade Damascus and topple the regime of Bashar Assad. In exchange, Chirac assured Israel full French support for the war. According to the message delivered from Paris, Syria was responsible for the flare up in the North and encouraged Hizbullah to attack. "Former prime minister Ariel Sharon had...

French President Jacques Chirac sent a message to his Israeli counterpart Moshe Katsav in which he says he views the crisis over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's call for French Jews to immigrate to Israel because of "wild anti-Semitism" as over, Israel Radio reported Saturday. The message was handed over to Katsav by a French cabinet minister, the radio said. The diplomatic crisis between France and Israel over Sharon's call erupted last week following Sharon's address to American Jewish leaders, in which he urged French Jews to move to Israel as soon as possible. "We see the spread of the wildest...

PARIS, April 8 (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac on Monday condemned a wave of attacks on Jewish synagogues and other sites in France, saying the French were not anti-Semitic. His comments, made during a combined interview with four Jewish stations, were followed just hours later by the discovery of an attempted arson attack on a Jewish student union office at Paris's Jussieu University.Three Molotov cocktails were found near the UEJF office, a university official said, adding there had been no fire."There are undisputedly anti-Semitic acts that are unacceptable and totally contrary to the principles of our republic, and which,...

France informed Israel Monday that Prime Minister Sharon, whose office has been planning a visit to France, is not welcome in light of his call to French Jews to immigrate to Israel. Israeli diplomatic officials said that Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, French President Jacques Chirac's personal diplomatic advisor, spoke to Israeli diplomat Jacques Revah and informed him that as a result of Sharon's call to French Jewry to leave France, "there is no reason to see Sharon." Revah is filling in for vacationing ambassador Nissim Zvili. Israeli diplomatic officials said although no date had yet been set for a visit, such a...

(CBS/AP) Just 10 days after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon enraged French leaders by urging France's Jews to leave for Israel, a group of 200 French Jews arrived to start a new life in the Jewish state, with Sharon at the airport to greet them. As one émigré told CBS News Correspondent Mark Philips: You wear something to say you are Jewish and you have difficulty. We are afraid. It's simply that we are afraid." At a welcoming ceremony, Sharon appeared to try to correct the damage from his earlier statements, saying anti-Semitism threatens the Western world, without singling out...

VERSAILLES, France - A young woman and her baby were attacked in a suburban train near Paris on Saturday by unidentified men who drew swastikas on her stomach with a pen in what police said was an anti-Semitic assault. The six attackers who were armed with knives clipped the 23-year-old woman's hair, and cut her t-shirt and pants before drawing three swastikas on her body. The men of North African origin also overturned the pram with her baby of 13 months. In the attack they robbed her backpack which contained her identity papers, a bank card and 200 euros ($250)....

PARIS - A gang of young men attacked a woman riding a suburban train with her infant, cutting her hair and drawing swastikas on her stomach. Other passengers watched but did nothing, police reported. French politicians issued denunciations Sunday as news of the Friday morning attack spread through the nation. Police said the gang of six set upon the 23-year-old woman on a suburban train north of Paris and grabbed her backpack where they found identity papers that showed an address in the capital's well-to-do 16th district. "There are only Jews in the 16th," one of the group of attackers...

By Andrew Diamond PARIS, Jan. 21 (JTA) -- Jews in the Paris region have stepped up their drive against a wave of anti-Semitic aggression that many feel has reached epidemic proportions. On Sunday in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles, more than 600 people attended a rally against anti-Semitic violence. Among them were representatives of Christian and Muslim communal organizations and high-ranking officials from all the major political parties in France. It was the third such demonstration in the Paris suburbs in the last three weeks. In staging these demonstrations, French Jewish organizations have adopted a more assertive approach as they ...

A previously unknown Islamic militant group, Jamaat Ansar Al-Jihad al-Islamiya, said yesterday it set fire to a Paris-based Jewish-run soup kitchen. Sunday's arson attack, in which nobody was killed or injured, was condemned by French President Jacques Chirac amid fears of a new wave of anti Semitic violence in France. "A group of young mujahedeen (fighters) ... have torched the Jewish temple in Paris at 04:00 Paris time," said Jamaat Ansar Al-Jihad al-Islamiya, whose claim could not be independently verified. The group said the attack was "in response to racist acts by Jews in France against Islam and the Muslims...

Arsonists raze Jewish school Amelia Gentleman in Paris Monday November 17, 2003 The Guardian An emergency meeting of the French cabinet will be held today after a devastating arson attack on a Jewish school in Paris at the weekend. President Jacques Chirac and the prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, will meet leaders of the Jewish community to discuss a joint strategy of response. About 100 firefighters tackled the blaze at the Merkaz Hatorah private school, in the Saint-Denis suburb to the north of the capital, on Saturday. No one was injured, but 3,000 sq metres of the school were destroyed. At...

French 'Peace' Activists Attack Jews, Salute bin Laden Eva Cahen, CNSNews.com Thursday, March 27, 2003 PARIS – Daily anti-war demonstrations by high school and college students in France have brought about increased tensions between the country's estimated 5 million Muslims and French Jews. A small group of Jewish students taking part in a peace demonstration Saturday in Paris were attacked and beaten by young Muslims also marching against U.S. intervention in Iraq. The assault was videotaped by Digipresse, a small French news agency, but France's two state television stations, France 2 and France 3, refused to broadcast it on their...

Street protests against American and British military action in Iraq have escalated into attacks by Muslim youths on Jewish demonstrators, sparking fears of a new wave of anti-Semitism across France. The French government was forced to appeal for calm after protesters, some of them carrying pictures of Saddam Hussein, burnt the Israeli flag and turned on Jewish students, attacking one of them with an iron bar, during a series of anti-war rallies. Officials fear that anti-war sentiment, supported by President Jacques Chirac, may be running out of control and could ignite widespread violence. Banners at recent demonstrations have shown the...

Harry and Murielle Ouaknine are successful professionals in France, but they’re thinking of giving up their life here to move to Israel. “We always thought about moving to Israel, but the environment in France now has pushed us to find the courage to do it,” Ouaknine said last month at a fair here, held to encourage immigration to Israel. Ouaknine, a shipping broker and the father of two children, was gathering information about high schools in Tel Aviv. He wasn’t alone. An increasing number of Jews in France are contemplating a move to Israel. Nearly 4,500 people showed up at...

Some of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's advisers and Israeli diplomats in Paris were at pains yesterday to try and temper Sharon's call on French Jews to come to Israel. They explained that it was only part of Sharon's regular call to the Jews of the Diaspora to make aliya and emphasized that he had praised the French governments' efforts in battling anti-Semitism. They should have saved their breath. Sharon was unequivocal. After being asked a question about attacks on French Jews at a meeting with the leadership of the United Jewish Communities, the prime minister said, "If I have to...

France Says It Must Not Be Arab-Jewish Battleground Last Updated: April 02, 2002 12:10 PM ET By Rebecca Harrison PARIS (Reuters) - France must not become a battleground where Jews and Muslims re-enact the bloody Middle East violence, national leaders said Tuesday after a series of attacks on Jewish targets in the country. Unknown arsonists tried to burn down a building at a Jewish cemetery in Strasbourg Monday night, following attacks on synagogues and a Jewish butcher's shop over Easter weekend. Right-wing pro-Israeli activists clashed Tuesday with Palestinian supporters waiting at a Paris airport for militant French farmer Jose...

When a wave of rioting erupted across France last fall, a Jewish youth group swung into action to guard synagogues and community centers from possible anti-Semitic spillover violence. Many Jews feel that such a reflex is needed these days in France, home to the largest population of both Jews and Muslims in western Europe and sporadically simmering with tensions. As Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was greeted with a red-carpet welcome in Paris on Wednesday, he faced a France where anti-Semitic attacks have tumbled from a high in 2004, despite several dramatic incidents. Olmert called President Jacques Chirac "one of...

<p>Facing international condemnation, a senior Malaysian official Friday defended Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's assertion at an Islamic summit that Jews rule the world, but apologized for any misunderstandings or offense.</p> <p>At their own summit in Brussels, Belgium, European Union leaders had drafted a harshly worded statement condemning Mahathir's remarks, but French President Jacques Chirac blocked the wording from becoming a part of a final declaration.</p>