French Jewish pundit calls underage immigrants 'thieves, killers and rapists'
By	Cnaan Liphshiz	 October 2, 2020 11:44 am
French journalist and writer Eric Zemmour arrives at Paris Criminal Court, where he was prosecuted for incitement to racial hatred, Nov. 6, 2015. (Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images)
(JTA) — A Jewish journalist in France said all underage immigrants should be deported because they're "thieves, killers and rapists."
Prosecutors initiated a criminal investigation for alleged incitement to racist hatred against Eric Zemmour, a columnist and writer with ties to French far-right movements, on Thursday.
Zemmour had made his remarks a day earlier in a debate on the CNews television channel in the aftermath of the Sept. 25 stabbing of several people by a Pakistani national outside the former offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris. He said the alleged attacker, Hassan Ali, was under the age of 18 when he immigrated alone to France in 2018.
In 2015, jihadists killed 12 people outside the magazine's offices because the publication mocked Islam.
The show's host asked Zemmour whether there "really isn't a fair way" of handling the immigration of unaccompanied minors.
"There is no fair way," the journalist responded. " We need to turn the tables. These youths, the rest of the immigration …"
The host, Christine Kelly, interrupted, saying "Not all of them."
Zemmour replied: "All of them, Christine. All. Because they have no business being here. I repeat. They are thieves, they are killers, they are rapists, that's all they are. They need to be sent back."
Elisabeth Moreno, a Cabinet minister responsible for diversity issues, said Zemmour's words were "abject and racist."
CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish organizations, called on CNews to fire Zemmour for his "intolerable and racist" remarks.