- PARIS (Reuters) -- A French
court on Tuesday sentenced a Jewish extremist to a suspended four month
jail term for inciting racial hatred against French Jewish celebrities
he branded "anti-Israeli" on his Web site.
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- Computer scientist Alexandre Attali, 29, was found guilty
of inciting racial hatred for calling for attacks against Jewish people
in particular. The court also fined him 13,000 euros ($15,000).
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- The Web site alleged Jewish and non-Jewish celebrities,
including Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche and best-selling writer
Regine Deforges, backed a French boycott of Israeli products to protest
against Israeli government policies.
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- Most of the people cited had merely signed a peace appeal
sponsored by a group which later supported a boycott.
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- The site identified 43 people on the list as Jewish by
posting a Star of David next to their name.
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- "The ones we have identified as Jews have a Star
of David next to their name. Not only do they deserve to be boycotted but
we encourage you, if ever you cross their path, to tell them verbally or
even physically what you think of them," it said.
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- Several people on the list reported receiving hate mail
and anonymous threats as a result.
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- Attali told the court he knew nothing about the list
and blamed a computer glitch.
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- The case was triggered by a complaint by French anti-racist
group MRAP, which said the Web site's singling out of Jews was a crime
against the memory of the Holocaust. It will share the damages with other
civil parties in the case.
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