Thousands of marchers joined lawmakers in Paris to condemn a surge in anti-Semitic acts in France, but arguments over political participation clouded an intended show of unity, Reuters reports.

The protest, called by the leaders of France’s two houses of parliament, was prompted by a three-fold increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents compared with the whole of 2022, according to French authorities, since Israel began bombarding Gaza following the Oct 7 attack by Hamas.

Political figures, including Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, headed the march, holding a banner with the slogan “For the Republic, against antisemitism”.

They led several renditions of the French national anthem.