The International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism—or Ligue internationale contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme (LICRA) in French—was established in 1927 and is opposed to intolerance, xenophobia, and exclusion. In 1927, French journalist

Bernard Lecache Bernard Lecache (16 August 1895 – 14 August 1968) was a French journalist. In 1927, he founded the League Against Pogroms, which the following year, became the International League Against Anti-Semitism, and in 1979, became the Internationa ...

created "The League Against Pogroms" and launched a media campaign in support of Sholom Schwartzbard, who assassinated

Symon Petliura Symon Vasyliovych Petliura (; – 25 May 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army (UNA) and led the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian War of Independence, a pa ...

on May 25, 1926, in the

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (, ) is an urban university campus in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, t ...

of Paris. Schwartzbard viewed Petliura as responsible for numerous pogroms in Ukraine. After Schwartzbard's acquittal, the league evolved into LICA (Ligue internationale contre l'antisémitisme, or International League Against Anti-Semitism), and Schwartzbard would become a prominent and active member of the organization. In 1931, LICA counted 10,000 subscribers in France. It played a significant role during the battle between leagues in February 1934. After 1932, LICA evolved into LICRA, but the name was officially changed only in 1979 during the long presidency of

Jean Pierre-Bloch Jean Pierre-Bloch (born Jean-Pierre Bloch; 14 April 1905 – 17 March 1999) was a French Resistant of the Second World War as an activist, being a former president of the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism. Biography Soci ...

(from 1968 to 1992 in office). In September 1939, as the Second World War started, numerous LICRA subscribers were mobilized, and many were members of the Resistance throughout the war. During the German occupation of France, LICRA was banned by the Vichy government and had to regroup clandestinely to help the victims of Nazi racial measures. This was done by hiding them away from Paris, by providing them with fake IDs, and by helping them escape to Switzerland, Spain, and England. In 1972, a law authorized LICRA to counsel victims of racist acts during their court appearances. Later, LICRA received considerable media attention during the case of '' LICRA v. Yahoo!'', in which it brought charges against Yahoo! for selling Nazi memorabilia to people in France in violation of French laws proposed, passed, and used by and for LICRA. The LICRA campaigns against

neonazism Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), to attac ...

and

Holocaust denial Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: ...

. For example, it supported the Klarsfeld couple (

Serge Serge may refer to: *Serge (fabric), a type of twill fabric *Serge (llama) (born 2005), a llama in the Cirque Franco-Italien and internet meme *Serge (name), a masculine given name (includes a list of people with this name) *Serge (post), a hitchi ...

and

Beate Klarsfeld Beate Auguste Klarsfeld (née Künzel; born 13 February 1939) is a Franco-German journalist and Nazi hunter who, along with her French husband, Serge, became famous for their investigation and documentation of numerous Nazi war criminals, inc ...

) and was active during

Klaus Barbie Nikolaus Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German officer of the ''Schutzstaffel'' and ''Sicherheitsdienst'' who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortu ...

's trial in 1987. In the 1990s, LICRA opened branches abroad: in Switzerland, in Belgium, in Luxembourg, in Germany, in Portugal, in Quebec, and more recently, in Congo Brazzaville and in Austria. From 1999, with the arrival of President

Patrick Gaubert Patrick Gaubert (born 6 July 1948) is a Paris-born French politician who was a Member of the European Parliament for the Île-de-France through 2009. He is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement, which is part of the European People's Party ...

, LICRA broadened its scope to include addressing social issues such as work discrimination, citizenship, and disadvantaged youth.

Commissions

* The Psychological Help Commission supports distressed victims of racist or antisemitic acts. * The Juridical Commission examines and decides whether to sue for racist speech or writing. It can also help victims with legal advice. * The Youth Commission was created after the 2002 events to address a lack of young subscribers. It carries out local and national actions to make young people more sensitive to racism and antisemitism issues. This commission brings together subscribers aged 16 to 30 every second Sunday of the month. * The Memory, History, and Human Rights Commission, created in 1986, informs and trains LICRA members. Its preventative actions are: ** historical information about the members, ** expertise regarding racism or antisemitism-related books, photos, and videos, ** spread of historical knowledge to teachers and students. * The Sport Commission tries to maintain sport as an integration tool. It leads prevention action towards violence in stadiums. It fights against communitarism and against those who use sport as a means of recruitment and infiltration. In Europe, the LICRA represents France in the

FARE A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used. Fare structure is the system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various p ...

network. * The Education Commission, led by Barbara Lefebvre and Alain Seksig, makes young people more aware of Republican values.

Presidents

(1927–1968) *

(1968–1992) * Jean-Pierre Pierre-Bloch, son of Jean Pierre-Bloch * Pierre Aidenbaum (1992–1999) *

(1999–2010) * Alain Jakubowicz (2010–2017) * Mario Stasi (since 2017)

Objectives and resources

The LICRA's aim is to stay in permanent alertness concerning any kind of discrimination. It fights against everyday racism and the banalization of xenophobic acts. It helps the victims, who are often unaware of their rights. It pays attention to any racist speech in the media. It does not want to challenge the press's freedom of speech, but only to find and correct any hate or discrimination incitement. It also makes sure that any negationist document is removed from sale. The LICRA acts on the field via its volunteers in every region. The action program is voted on by nine commissions (historical memory, juridical, education, cultural, sport, Europe, integration, citizenship, and youth). Since 1932, the LICRA has published a newspaper called "le droit de vivre" (the right to live), which is an essential aid to expressing the LICRA's values and engagements. Given out to all the members, it is a tool of internal and external communication. It allows us to sum up LICRA's local, national, and international actions. Depending on the actuality, many personalities (political, NGO, sports, etc.) express themselves in its columns.

Financing

The LICRA is mainly financed by state subsidies. It receives around 500,000 euros every year from the French government.

External links

LICRA—Ligue Internationale Contre le Racisme et l'Antisémitisme
��official page
FARE network website (Football Against Racism in Europe)
{{Authority control Opposition to antisemitism in France Anti-racism in France Anti-racist organizations in Europe Organizations established in 1927 Human rights organizations based in France 1927 establishments in France