Thousands march in Paris rally to honor Jewish woman murdered in anti-Semitic attack

PARIS, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of mourners took the streets of French capital on Wednesday to call for a stop to anti-Semitism after an elderly Jewish woman was killed because of her religion.

Holding a white rose, political figures and civil society participated in a silent march that, according to President Emmanuel Macron's government, should be a moment for national unity.

Defying a call by Crif, an organization of French Jewish groups, Marine le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front party, and Jean-Luc Melenchon, head of hard-left "Unbowed France" movement, joined the march where they were greeted with whistles and jostling.

"Anti-Semites are over-represented in the far left and the far right, making those parties ones that you don't want to be associated with. Therefore, they are not welcome," Francis Kalifat, Crif director, told RTL radio.

Last Friday, Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll, 85, was found dead in her apartment in the central 11th district of Paris. She had been stabbed multiple times before her flat was set on fire.

Two men, aged 29 and 22 years, have been placed under investigation and charged with murder "motivated by the real or supposed adherence to a religion," aggravated robbery, and destruction of property.

In a national tribute to a military police killed last week in a terrorist attack, Macron on Wednesday made reference to Knoll, saying she was killed "because she was Jewish."

Thirty anti-Semitic attacks have been reported since January, according to the Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, who denounced the "intolerable" rise of such acts.

"Anti-Semitism is a deadly poison. Today and tomorrow, the Republic will stand up to this infamy (and) ... lead this fight," he said.

Other marches were planned in Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Montpellier and Orleans.

France is home to more than 400,000 Jewish people, the biggest community in Europe. Enditem