One year to the day after the Hamas attack on Israel, on October 7, 2023, around 160 people gathered for an evening of tribute to the victims, 1,205 of whom died. The speeches of several representatives of Jewish institutions took place in the privacy of the Halles de Tours.
Faced with the increase in anti-Semitic acts, registration and signature were compulsory at the entrance to this commemoration which took place under the close surveillance of around ten agents of the national and municipal police.
“How can we summarize what happened on October 7? How can we talk about the hostages held in Gaza? How can we talk about the burned synagogues? From those who spit on rabbis or Jewish students who fear going to college every day”states a young representative of the Union of Jewish Students of France.
“Our lives have been turned upside down”
“Our lives have been turned upside down. Today is another October 7 but time has stopped”she concludes. Interventions punctuated by music, short films covering the attack or denouncing anti-Semitism.
“We have a duty to remember the memory of the victims. To show society that whatever happens, we will not be silent”believes François Guggenheim, the regional delegate of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif), at the initiative of this commemoration.
Many members of the Jewish community participated, the prefect of Indre-et-Loire Patrice Latron, as well as some believers of other faiths. “I am here to pay tribute, but also out of solidarity with the Jewish people. I have many Jewish friends in the room. For nothing in the world I wouldn’t be anywhere elseconfides Abel. Words fail me to talk about October 7. It is unimaginable to experience such atrocities. »
