Over 500 people demonstrated in Paris last week against the airing of the The Promise by TV channel Canal+.

Its head office and studios were surrounded by armed riot police.

The demonstration was organised by an ad hoc group, "Confederation of Jews of France and Friends of Israel" (CJFAI). Members of CRIF, the representative body of French Jewry, were also present.

Canal+ finally agreed to broadcast a caption reading "The Promise is fiction" before each of the four programmes. But it was "not enough" for CRIF, which complained to the French Broadcasting Authority.

Last Friday, CRIF's Richard Prasquier met the president of Canal+, Bertrand Meheut. He told him that such a series "could only fan the flames of antisemitic violence". Mr Meheut promised that viewers would be provided with balanced information about the issue.