PARIS – The Ilan Halimi Tolerance and Fraternity Award was given out for the first time Wednesday, in a ceremony held in the French capital.
The award was named after 23-year-old Ilan Halimi who was kidnapped and murdered in 2006 by an ethnic gang.
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Youssouf Fofana, sentenced to life imprisonment for the abduction, torture and death of French Jew Ilan Halimi in 2006, appeals gravity of punishment |
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The Halimi family formed a foundation to commemorate their slain son, awarding a €15,000 grant to the local Jewish youth center in the Paris suburb of Ris-Orangif .
"I stand firm beside you in your war against the prejudice that resulted in this brutal murder," said Chirac, who was the keynote speaker.
"Anti-Semitism is not an opinion, it's a perversion. A perversion that kills. Remember," he ended his speech in Hebrew, "Remember and never forget."
Rabbi Michel Sarfati, founder to the Jewish-Muslim Friendship Association, was also present at the ceremony.
Since the murder, he has spent most of his time "traveling across France, especially in the suburbs, which are infected with violence and inter-religious tension."
Halimi's murder, he said, served as a wake up call for all Frenchmen: "There is an increasing demand for inter-religious dialogue… (the association) has recently opened five more youth centers, were more are underway."
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