Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/8683564.htm
On May 17, 2004 The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a Reuters article that reported, "Several thousand French activists, artists and politicians protested against anti-Semitism yesterday after the desecration of two Jewish cemeteries and a rise in attacks on Jewish people and property. Human-rights groups, backed by France's main Jewish body, hastily organized the march after swastikas were scrawled on tombstones and on graves of Jewish soldiers near the World War I trenches of Verdun. But a dispute over the nature of today's anti-Semitism, a sensitive issue in a country with Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim minorities, meant some anti-racist groups marched separately in a protest against all forms of race hatred. 'We don't want this to be an issue just for Jews,' said Roger Cukierman, head of the CRIF umbrella group of Jewish organizations in France, as the march began. 'When someone attacks a Jew, he attacks all the values of our society.' Marching with him were conservative Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, Socialist Party head Francois Hollande, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe and Greens leader Noel Mamere. The main march also included trade union members, religious movements and a women's group fighting sexism among young Muslim men. Many anti-Semitic attacks have been blamed on Muslims reacting to Israel's tough line against Palestinians."