SARKOZY: ANTI-SEMITISM MUST BE CONFRONTED HEAD ON

Seamless denial of anti-Semitism must be confronted and attacked (JTA)
EAST SUSSEX, England (JTA) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy, during his recent visit to Washington, stated in widely reported remarks that the resurgence of anti-Semitic propaganda and associated violence around the world should not be minimized or explained away, but attacked head-on.

Addressing the American Jewish Committee, Sarkozy recalled being aghast to hear a Gaullist minister dismissing recent anti-Semitic violence in France with the throw-away line, "Yes, there are synagogues burning, but there are also cars burning."

Fighting anti-Semitism, Sarkozy said, involves agreement on what constitutes it.

"We cannot fight against what is denied," he said. "Unless you agree on a diagnosis, you cannot find the remedy."