Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons A group of French lawmakers have proposed a bill that would make anti-Zionism a criminal offence. The bill would conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism and comes on the heels of an increase in anti-Semitic attacks in France. Sylvian Maillard, a deputy from French President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party, currently leads the Antisemitism Study Group in the country’s National Assembly. Maillard said that the group has been examining the roots of anti-Zionism and antisemitism for “several weeks” and that they have concluded that “hatred of Israel is the new way of hating Jews.” He went on to say, “We can criticize the government of Israel, but not question the very existence of this state. Nobody questions the existence of the French state or the German state.” The European Jewish Congress (EJC) has applauded the debate in the French Parliament. President of the EJC Dr. Moshe Kantor said, “We absolutely welcome this discussion and hope to see it lead to concrete action because it is clear that the overwhelming majority of those who claim to be anti-Zionist use it merely as a cover for their anti-Semitism. We are, of course, making a huge differentiation between completely legitimate criticism of Israel and its policies, and singling out and isolating the Jewish people as not being allowed to express its right to self-determination and to live in its national homeland.” Referring to Natan Sharansky’s 3D Test of Anti-Semitism (which has been incorporated into the definition of anti-Semitism used by the U.S. Department of State and countless worldwide government bodies and agencies), Dr. Kantor pointed out the fact that “Anti-Zionists never claim that any other nation on earth, apart from the Jewish State, should be dismantled or is illegitimate, so it is clear that this meets any standard of delegitimization, demonization, and double-standards.” On February 19th, thousands of people rallied in the streets of Paris against recent anti-Semitic attacks. Attendees included Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and former French presidents. Parliament suspended their work for several hours to enable MPs to attend the protests, while 18 different political parties encouraged citizens to attend. These rallies come after a recent wave of anti-Semitic attacks. A Jewish cemetery in eastern France became the most recent target of anti-Semitic attacks. 96 graves were desecrated with swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans. “Yellow Vest” protesters were also recently caught hurling anti-Semitic insults like “Dirty Zionist” and “Dirty race” at Alain Finkielkraut, a French Jewish philosopher and writer. A new study exposed just how dire the situation is, showing that there were more than 500 anti-Semitic attacks perpetrated in France in 2018, which is a 74% increase from 2017.