According to German American political philosopher Hannah Arendt, the Panama affair had a crucial importance in the development of French anti-Semitism, due to the involvement in the scandal of two Jews Jacques Reinach and Cornelius Herz. French politicians including Prime Minister George Clemenceau were accused of bribing and corruption in connection to the Panama Canal Company, the construction firm involved into the building of the Panama Canal. In Arendt’s view, the affair strengthened the idea in French public opinion that the middlemen between the business sector and the state were exclusively Jews.Wikipedia
According to German American political philosopher Hannah Arendt, the Panama affair had a crucial importance in the development of French anti-Semitism, due to the involvement in the scandal of two Jews Jacques Reinach and Cornelius Herz. French politicians including Prime Minister George Clemenceau were accused of bribing and corruption in connection to the Panama Canal Company, the construction firm involved into the building of the Panama Canal. In Arendt’s view, the affair strengthened the idea in French public opinion that the middlemen between the business sector and the state were exclusively Jews.WikipediaIn 1884, Alsatian captain of Jewish descent Alfred Dreyfus was convicted for allegedly having leaked French military secrets to the German embassy in Paris.WikipediaAfter the French defeat in June 1940, Pétain was appointed premier of France at Bordeaux.ReutersMaurice Papon was minister of the Budget under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing presidency when details about his murky past emerged.ReutersOttawa university lecturer Hassan Diab (in the picture) was arrested in 2008 in connection with the deadly 1980 bombing in Paris that targeted a synagogue during a Sabbath service. Three French men and one Israeli woman were killed. Hundreds of thousands of people marched thourgh the streets of Paris to protest against the attack. In 2011, a judge agreed to a French request to extradite Diab to France for trial. An appeal is expected.Reutersar right-wing veteran politician Jean-Marie Le Pen founded the Front National in 1972.ReutersFrench comedian Dieudonné has been condemned in court several times for anti-Semitic remarks. He claims to be leading a “justified fight” against Zionism and Israel. He was sentenced for saying the Holocaust is a “memorial pornography”.Wikipedia
After the Toulouse shooting, in which a gunman killed a teacher and three children before fleeing on a scooter, several Israeli commentators have portrayed France as the stronghold of anti-Semitism in Europe.
Figures showing that the number of anti-Semitic acts reported in France fell in the past few years can be misleading. From the 1960s there have been approximately 50 terrorist actions, actual and foiled, against Jews in France, according to the Community Security Trust (CST), which works on behalf of Anglo-Jewry.
Half a million Jews live in France - the third largest Jewish community in the world. Monday's attack was the most deadly targeting Jews in France since the 1980 Paris synagogue bombing, in which three French men and one Israeli woman were killed.
France is particularly sensitive about its Jewish community, because of its World War II history of abetting Nazi occupiers in deporting Jewish citizens. The Vichy government headed by Philippe Pétain approved anti-Semitic laws and collaborated with the Nazis in sending Jews to the concentration camps.
Politicians with a murky past were often exposed by French newspapers for anti-Semitic acts. Maurice Papon was minister of the budget under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing when details about his links with the Nazis emerged. In one of the biggest scandal of France's Republican history, Le Canard Enchaîné newspaper published documents signed by Papon during the Second World War which showed he personally sent thousands of Jews to a concentration camp.
France's anti-Semitic history dates back to the end of the 19<sup>th century, with two scandals that marked the beginning of modern hatred against Jews: the Dreyfus affair and the Panama scandals.
