Emmanuel Macron will plant an oak tree on the Elysée in tribute to Ilan Halimi and name for the struggle towards anti-Semitism in France | EUROtoday

Twenty years to the day after the demise of Ilan Halimi, on February 13, 2006, and after the vandalization of a number of timber paying tribute to him in France, Emmanuel Macron will plant an oak tree on Friday within the gardens of the Elysée in reminiscence of the younger Jewish Frenchman tortured to demise by the “gang of barbarians”, the Elysée introduced on Wednesday February 11.

In the midst of the rise of anti-Semitism in France, the president may even give a speech. He’s not going “only draw up an observation but also identify and qualify the propagators and propaganda that spreads anti-Semitic poison to the heart of our nation”famous a presidential advisor, citing “the extreme right as well as the extreme left” and the “identity and community circles”.

In France, 504 anti-Semitic acts have been recorded between January and May 2025, a rise of 134% in comparison with the identical interval in 2023, fueled by the struggle launched in Gaza by the Israeli military within the wake of the bloodbath perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in Israel.

The president “will denounce the unfounded accusations with which the propagators of anti-Semitic hatred, in all forms and in all places, intend to heap on French Jews”additionally famous the advisor. “He wants to put down the words that must lead each and every one, women and men of good will, to stand up against anti-Semitism wherever it comes from, whatever its form.”And “deliver a message of solidarity and affection towards all Jewish citizens of this country”.

Some 200 friends can be current, together with Ilan Halimi’s household, representatives of organizations and younger folks concerned within the struggle towards anti-Semitism. Judicial authorities, together with the primary president and the lawyer basic on the Court of Cassation, the director of the National School of the Judiciary and representatives of the bar affiliation will attend the ceremony.

Tribute to the rise in anti-Semitic acts

The tree, a sessile oak that may reside for a thousand years, was chosen in reference to the household for its symbolism, “strength, longevity and justice”stated one other advisor. “It is also sending a message to all those who in recent months have tried to attack the memory of Ilan Halimi by chainsawing or cutting down trees. They can try to cut them all down, in the end, one will remain in the garden of the Republic and under its protection”he burdened.

An olive tree planted within the suburbs of Lyon was partly lower down in January. In August 2025, a tree was additionally lower down in Epinay-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis). Two brothers have been sentenced for this act, one to eight months in jail, the opposite to eight months in jail. But the courtroom didn’t acknowledge the anti-Semitic nature of their act, contemplating that there was not sufficient proof to ascertain that they knew that this monument had been erected in reminiscence of Ilan Halimi. The prosecution appealed.

Ilan Halimi, 23, was kidnapped, kidnapped and tortured in January 2006 by round twenty individuals who known as themselves the “barbarian gang”, below the management of Youssouf Fofana. Discovered on February 13, 2006 bare, gagged, handcuffed and bearing traces of torture and burns, alongside a railway observe in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, in Essonne, the younger man died throughout his switch to hospital.