Emmanuel Macron attacked Jewish schools

With the French election still a subject, any Jews in France who overlook this disturbing news from several months ago, which did cause some anger, will be making a big mistake:

French presidential hopeful and former Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron sparked an uproar in the French Jewish community, following the publication of an interview earlier this month of an interview touching upon religious schools in France.

[...] Speaking with Marianne earlier this month, Macron warned of the influence of religion in French schools generally and decrying Jewish schools for emphasizing the Torah.

“It is very important to maintain neutrality in the public sector,” Macron said. “Religion cannot be present in school. But I hear few people becoming concerned by the consequences of this phenomenon, [with] more and more children being sent to religious schools which teach them to hate the Republic and teach mainly in Arabic, or,” Macron added, “in other places [Jewish schools] teach the Torah more than general studies.”

That kind of talk could easily suggest Jewish schools are no different than Muslim schools. Far from it, and most Jewish schools in France have some of the best students in various other subjects too. That Macron would make such a superficial claim only does more damage, and puts his sincerity further in doubt. Here's some of the French language interviews on Marianne and La Croix.

Since we're on the subject, the UK Telegraph says Macron would also be bad for Brexit:

Barring an unforeseen electoral earthquake, the centrist Emmanuel Macron now looks set fair to become the next president of France in two weeks’ time.

As the leader of one of the EU’s two most powerful nations, Mr Macron will have a key role in formulating the European Union’s attitude to Brexit when talks get underway after the UK’s General election on June 8.

Theresa May has been clear that she does not want the EU or the euro to unravel - a near-certainty were Marine Le Pen to win the Elysee Palace - but while a Macron presidency brings stability, the 39-year-old former banker has promised to drive a hard bargain with Britain.

Worse is the hard bargain he'll drive with his own country, since his positions on safety and security for the public are uncertain.

And, if it matters, what about his affair and marriage with a former teacher of his, Brigitte Trogneux, when he was 16 years old, at a time when he was still underage and she was in her late 30s? His defense for this was:

“Nobody would call it unusual if the age difference was reversed,” he said. “People find it difficult to accept something that is sincere and unique.”

No, he's missing the point. In the USA, if an older teacher has an affair with a student who's under 18, it's considered illegal, and she would've been arrested and charged for violating statutory laws. The same goes for if a male teacher did the same with an underage girl. So what's his point? What he's done is an embarrassment, even if it's nothing compared to his fishy policies on security for the country and combating terrorism, which he doesn't seem to have a clue what to do about.