French-jew lawmaker Meyer Habib on Saturday said the roots of the ongoing riots in France are in areas where antisemitism and hatred against France and white people are rampant.

“This looks like an Intifada in the heart of France,” Habib said. “France is on fire, with 249 police officers injured. Nothing, not even the dramatic death of a young man justifies this chaos.”

“In these lost areas of the republic, for years there has been an undisturbed growth of hatred of France, white people, and Jews,” he added.

Habib compared the response to the killing of a 17-year-old Muslim boy by a police officer, which sparked the riots, to the murder of 65-year-old Jewish woman Sarah Halimi, who was murdered in her home in 2017 by a Muslim man who shouted “Allahu Akbar” while attacking her.

“Sarah Halimi was beaten for 20 minutes in front of 20 police officers. Her murderer is practically free and no one rioted or burned anything,” Habib said.