The anti-Semitic rape of a 12-year-old girl in Courbevoie on June 15 sparked strong emotion across the country. In Roannais too, associations react with one voice “in the face of horror”.
Four associations from the area signed a joint press release at the beginning of the week: ACIR (Roanne Jewish Cultural Association), LICRA (International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism), LDH (Human Rights League) and Féministes en Roannais. Through this text, they intend to collectively denounce the tragedy “where a very young 12-year-old girl was raped, humiliated and threatened with death, because she was Jewish, by boys of the same age.”
“Who could have imagined that we would arrive at this point with the hideous specter of “not living together”? », protest the signatories. Which “do not accept a world where women live in fear of being attacked, raped, tortured, killed and where rapists and other torturers do not know fear”.
A “trivialization of anti-Semitism”
And to also denounce a rise in anti-Semitism in France, recalling that the number of reported acts has “multiplied fourfold”. “This trivialization of anti-Semitism, in actions, words, representations must not benefit from any excuse or any attempt at explanation,” they emphasize. “It is abnormal that a Jew must be discreet, that a woman must hide, that a person cannot be what she is,” insist the co-signatories.
Faced with the horror of a society “which spreads hatred”, “without filter”, Acir, Licra, LDF and the Feminists in Roannais thus “firmly” condemn anti-Semitism, violence against women and any form of racism, and fellow citizens who “see themselves stigmatized because of their origin, their skin color or their religion”.
“Vigilance is required to combat all sexist, racist and anti-Semitic acts, remarks and projects,” they summarize, demanding a “genuine public policy to combat discrimination in order to find a peaceful climate to move towards a society that can promote equality and fraternity. A message addressed in particular to political leaders, while the country is experiencing a major page in its history with the anticipated legislative elections.
