A senatorial mission expressed alarm on Wednesday, June 26, about a “resurgence” in French universities of a “climate of anti-Semitism” and proposed to “strengthen training” and “systematize sanctions”, recommendations that it hopes to see taken into account “from the start of the next school year”.
Since October 7, “76 anti-Semitic acts have been reported, 17 of which are the subject of disciplinary proceedings,” Minister of Higher Education Sylvie Retailleau said at a Senate hearing at the end of May. This constitutes more than double the previous school year, notes in its final report the Senate’s “flash mission” led by the centrist Pierre-Antoine Lévi and the radical Bernard Fialaire, launched at the end of March following incidents that occurred during the occupation of an amphitheater at Sciences Po Paris.
Since the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, associations including Crif (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France) and politicians have regularly warned of the rise of “atmospheric anti-Semitism” in universities fueled by conflict in the Gaza Strip.
The rapporteurs said they were “alarmed by the resurgence, within many establishments, of a climate of anti-Semitism whose modes of expression have evolved under the effect of ideological polarization associated with student mobilizations in favor of Palestine” , underlined Pierre-Antoine Lévi during a press conference. Beyond “isolated and sporadic actions” of “ultra-right sympathizers”, this “reactivation” also owes, according to their relationship, to “an ideology now also belonging to the extreme left”.
“This atmospheric anti-Semitism, difficult to spot, results in harassment, shoving, changing places in the lecture halls, and isolation of students when forming groups,” according to Pierre-Antoine Lévi. “The available data does not make it possible to identify any sector or establishments particularly concerned”, however, note the rapporteurs.
“There is a lot of ignorant anti-Semitism”
Among their eleven recommendations, the senators ask to “generalize partnership agreements between higher education establishments and local public prosecutors” in order to be “more responsive”, underlined Bernard Fialaire. The senators also point out “the training which sometimes exists but which must be disseminated more in universities where there is a lot of ignorant anti-Semitism”, according to Pierre-Antoine Lévi.
They also recommend “adding types of sanctions for reporting cases of racism and anti-Semitism, going as far as temporary exclusion.” “Every time a president of a university or major school is aware of a fact, it must be reported,” they insisted.
“It feels very good to read this precise, detailed report. The solution comes through nuance and work and not through exploitation,” Samuel Lejoyeux, president of the Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF), told AFP, hoping that this “will be taken up in practice.”
The work of this mission “will enable the ministry to deepen its efforts in preventing and combating anti-Semitism on campuses,” the Ministry of Higher Education told AFP. “Our universities […] are aware of the need to do better. We are now working on preparing for the start of the school year,” responded France Universités, which brings together 74 universities.