Ha’aretz reports that the family of French murder victim, Ilan Halimi, are refusing to attend a demonstration against the murder because of the participation of the racist right. According to Ha’aretz:
“The rally – which is due to be attended by over 100,000 people and numerous public figures, including government ministers – has become controversial due to the planned participation of representatives of two right-wing political movements, the National Front and the Movement for France (known by its French initials MPF).
“On Friday, the anti-racism organization MARP announced that it would refuse to attend the rally for this reason, charging that both movements were using Halimi’s murder to whip up anti-Muslim sentiment and thereby encouraging racism. The National Front, for instance, described the murder as ‘the result of 40 years of uncontrolled immigration’, while the MPF denounced ‘the Islamization of France’.”