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A Jewish man was charged with racism and received a fine after posting “no Arabs” along with an advertisement for a job opening at his business, according to court proceedings in France.
The Jewish owner of a small French publishing business was fined 5,000 euros, or about $6,500 this week after announcing a job offer with the condition that North African origin candidates need not apply.
The notice published in a work center in the eastern suburbs of Paris that Jean-Luc Benady would not employ North Africans, which led to a charge of discrimination based on race and religion.
After being convicted and fined in a court in the small town of Bobigny a repentant Benady described how he had framed the announcement as a "precautionary measure".
As a Jew, he argued, I was justified to consider all members of the North African population in France as a potential threat, because each of them "could have a father or brother who does not like Jews."
"If I go out in this area, I might not come back alive," the father of four children said, adding that he adopted the precautionary principle towards North Africans the same way some consumers avoid genetically modified foods.