There’s been a surge in anti-Semitism in France.
Thousands of marchers joined French lawmakers in Paris on Sunday to condemn a surge in anti-Semitism in France during the conflict in the Gaza Strip, but arguments over political participation clouded an intended show of unity.
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 the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Hamas attacks Israel so anti-Semitism increases. Seems fair.
Political figures, including Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne and former presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, headed the march, holding a banner with the slogan “For the Republic, against anti-Semitism“. They led several renditions of the French national anthem.
Interesting. We don’t see that much (or at all?) in the US – former presidents heading protest marches.
“We had grandparents who escaped being transported to the concentration camps, luckily they aren’t here to see that (anti-Semitism) is back,” said Laura Cohen, a marcher in her 30s.
“We shouldn’t have to hide in 2023,” she added, saying her family planned to remove their name from the intercom in their building and the mezuzah, a Jewish religious object, from their door.
A friend of mine who recently moved to Paris from New York saw two guys with semiautomatic rifles guarding a Jewish school in the Marais yesterday. Makes my blood run cold.
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11 responses to “Allons enfants”
@Ophelia:
This is now routine in France, and it’s getting similar (though not as bad) in the UK, where synagogues and Jewish school routinely have security guards.
For example, this is a government announcement from March this year, so well before the current conflict.
“Synagogues and faith schools will be given £15 million for protective security measures in 2023 to 2024 as part of the Jewish Community Protective Security grant, a £1 million increase on last year.”
Then, on Oct 12, they announcedanother £3 million, in addition to the above £15 million.
“The money will enable the CST to place additional guards in schools it supports throughout each school’s operating hours. They will also be able to place additional security staff at outside synagogues on Friday nights and Saturday mornings.”
—Martin Niemöller
Ugh. I did not know that, Coel. Thank you for the information.
If you want all Jews out of Israel, threatening and attacking Jews in Paris would seem to be a counterproductive way to go about it.
I recommend Nick Cohen’s latest piece on anti-Semitism on the left:
https://nickcohen.substack.com/p/the-bitter-legacy-of-the-gaza-conflict
The old demons of European civilisation are still there, on both the left and right, and they are being encouraged to show their teeth.
Tim, it seems Nick Cohen is just writing another screed demonising all of Islam. Now, he may have a small point, but not all Muslims are Islamists. Just as we need to separate the Jews of the Diaspora from the Zionists terrorising Palestine, we also need to separate the Muslims who use the religion to further hate from those who have grown up in better-educated Muslim communities.
Have Jews been unfairly demonised and attacked just for being Jews? No doubt, they have in many parts of the world and many historical eras. But Nick Cohen and his fellow travellers are treading along that same path regarding Muslims.
Much of what we are seeing described as anti-semitism is actually anti Israel, anti the Israeli settler colony squatting in Palestine, and anti the forced removal of Palestinians from any piece of land the Israelis want to claim. This is not anti semitism, it IS standing up for the oppressed and supporting the right of Palestinians to defend their homes and their country from foreign invaders. They are no less entitled to do this than the Viet Minh, the French Resistance, or the IRA.
“10 Myths About Israel”, Ilan Pappé, a Jewish Israeli historian.
Why do you say “it seems Nick Cohen is just writing another screed demonising all of Islam” when it doesn’t seem that at all? He specifies radical Islam and ultra-right Islamists throughout the piece, so he’s doing the very opposite of demonizing all of Islam.
Sorry, Rev, but I do not think he is demonising Muslims at all. I am also very well aware of the very much less than salubrious aspects of Israeli settlement, and have no time whatsoever for the present Israeli government in particular, whose policies have made an intractable situation even more intractable, not to mention the way the West has, since the Oslo accords, turned a blind eye to the rights of Palestinians and given the Israeli government carte blanche to do what it likes..
Radical Islam. Not Islam, but radical Islam.
Etc. He does that throughout the piece. Did you even read it?
Don’t apologize, Tim. Rev had no business saying that. I’m rather steamed about it, in case that’s not obvious.
It’s not a “screed” and nowhere does he “demon[ise] all of Islam.” He talks about Leftists unambiguously applauding the Oct. 7 massacre.
Read the damn thing. And maybe try resisting the urge to post a screed of your own about Palestine when the subject is antisemitism.