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The Provence candidate for Miss France 2021 was the target of anti-Semitic comments on Twitter during the beauty pageant that took place on Saturday. Police are now investigating the incident on the social network.
April Benayoum, 21, was the candidate from the Provence region for Miss France 2021 this Saturday and came in second place. However, after revealing his Israeli roots in an interview, he was the target of several anti-Semitic attacks through malicious comments on Twitter. The tweets generated a wave of outrage and were immediately criticized by French politicians and Jewish groups.
The young woman found out what happened through her relatives. “It is sad to witness such behavior in 2020. I obviously condemn these comments, but it does not affect me at all,” says Benayoum, as quoted by BBC News.
Several French politicians were dissatisfied with what happened in April. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said he was “completely shocked by the amount of insults” to Miss Provence in a tweet on his personal account. “We cannot let the matter go by,” so the police will carry out an investigation, he adds. Marlène Schiappa, Minister of Citizenship, wrote that the contest “was not an antisemitism contest.” “The attacks are an abomination. Benayoum is French, of Italian and Israeli origin, from southern Provence, and perfectly represents our region and our country,” said Renaud Muselier, a former French MEP. The organizers of the event were quick to denounce the “hate speech” against the young woman, highlighting that it is “totally contrary to the values of the chain, production and entertainment.”
This year’s winner, Amandine Petit (Miss Normandy), said the “observations were inappropriate” and “extremely disappointing” to watch. According to the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Lycra), the contest turned Twitter into an “anti-Semitic cesspool against Miss Provence.”
Amnesty French recalls the importance of fighting discrimination, especially at a time when the world is witnessing insulting, anti-Semitic and racist comments against the young April Benayoum and the journalist Rokhaya Diallo, who is also the target of racist comments.
France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, around half a million, and in recent years there have been several Jews who have been targeted by hate attacks. In 2018, a European Union survey revealed that 95% of Jews consider anti-Semitism to be a serious problem.
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