Interior Minister Daniel Vaillant on Monday played down fears that a wave of anti-Semitism was sweeping France, instead blaming recent attacks on disaffected youngsters.
Vaillant claimed the rash of attacks against synagogues and the homes of Jewish families was "a phenomenon, sadly fashionable and lamentable, whereby idle young men, often disaffected or already delinquent, seize upon these difficult times to act."
Vaillant, speaking on RTL radio, added that he did not believe that "for the moment we can talk about ... an underlying ground swell."
There have been more than 20 attacks against synagogues and Jewish schools and buildings across France in what Jewish leaders describe as acts of anti-Semitism unprecedented since World War II – PARIS (AFP)
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