E/CN.4/2006/16 page 13 values of one group or community on minority groups, and hence the denial, overlooking or negation of the values of those other groups or communities. The desire to civilize and to transmit cultural and scientific progress constitute, for example, ideological stances justifying colonial and imperial domination. Identity-related tension is founded, in a multicultural society, in the confrontation between the assertion of intangible national values, expressions of the dominant group or community’s values, set up as a unique model and reference point for national identity, and either the questioning of these values, or demands for account to be taken in these national values of the values of minority groups and communities in the nation. While multiculturalism is the common dominant characteristic of most modern societies, the way in which it is handled is more often than not makeshift, reflecting the ideological content of its theoretical models. Such theoretical models and political practice are profoundly influenced by several factors: the centrality of the question of identity in a context of globalization, the political emphasis on efforts to combat terrorism, and the resurgence of old and new forms of racism, discrimination and xenophobia. 34. The model of republican integration, the modern incarnation of integration - assimilation, constructs national unity on values viewed as the foundation of the republican political system. These values are stated as the expression of social and political progress and of a secular order. Political and social progress is reflected in the values of justice, equality and the primacy of the individual over membership of a community. Secularism, the expression of the separation of church and State, promotes the republican unity of society over the religious and cultural diversity of its components. Republican integration takes precedence over the maintenance of specific cultural or religious identities. The political exploitation of these factors, including through the rhetoric of “defending national identity and culture”, feeds into political platforms and is a central element in the increase in racism, discrimination and xenophobia throughout the world. This model, displaying a profound refusal of cultural diversity, postulates the cultural dispossession of minority communities, of the immigrant, as a necessary precondition for national integration. The questioning of the cultural invisibility which results for minority communities is an indicator of an identity crisis in a multicultural society. In this regard the current crises in Europe, and particularly in France, are testament, through the exacerbation of racism, discrimination and xenophobia, to a profound reconstruction of identity, a question overlooked in the European construction. The sound and fury of these events, through the link between social, political and economic demands and the affirmation of identity, constitute the outward signs of the cracks and fissures in the old fabric of identity and the slow and painful emergence of a new, multicultural, national identity. B. Anti-Semitism and Christianaphobia 35. The resurgence in anti-Semitism may be illustrated by three concomitant manifestations: the increase in individual acts, the resilience of intellectual legitimization, and political exploitation. The most dramatic and symbolic manifestation of individual acts of anti-Semitism concerns the profanation, the desecration of tombs and places of worship. While such profanation affects all religions, those affecting places identified as Jewish are more common in many countries, particularly in Europe. Thus, in France, instances of profanation increased from a level of 30 incidents at Jewish cemeteries and places of worship in 2003 to 91, from 13 to 87 for Muslims, and from 38 to 94 for Christians. Three groups stand out among those arrested: the extreme right or skinhead neo-Nazi Movement, young “satanists”, and young people with a gamut of motivations, ranging from support for the Palestinian people to aping television and