France’s Jews Shudder Over Being Targeted for Attack—Again
PARIS—The deadly hostage drama at a kosher grocery store on the eastern edge of Paris sent another shudder through a Jewish community already feeling beset by a rising tide of anti-Semitic violence.
“It is impossible to live like this,” said Daniel Corcos, a 60-year-old volunteer at a synagogue in eastern Paris, who said he sometimes shops at the store where four hostages were killed and several others injured on Friday, the Jewish Sabbath.
“The Jew isn’t safe in France,” he said. “You go to buy food, and you’re dead.”
Mr. Corcos said he has already bought a home near Tel Aviv, where he has moved his children. “If you think a lot of Jews left France last year, this year the number is going to be five times higher,” he said.
Friday’s shootings amounted to the deadliest attack against French Jews since the 2012 killing of three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school in Toulouse. The event also reminded many of a 1982 attack on a restaurant in the Marais district in central Paris, the symbolic heart of the city’s Jewish community, that left six dead.
‘You go to buy food, and you’re dead.’
—Daniel Corcos, a Jewish resident of Paris
Stores on the normally crowded Rue des Rosiers in the Marais were told by French authorities to close early, a precautionary measure against further attacks against Jewish establishments. The police were on constant patrol on the narrow streets in the area throughout the afternoon as many Jews prepared for their weekly Friday evening prayers.
“Are we surprised? No. Am I scared? No. There’s no point in being scared,” said a defiant Martine Oiknine, a manager at the falafel restaurant Mi-va-mi. She insisted on staying open despite the order to close. “Will things change? I really don’t think so. More [terrorist attacks] will happen.”
France is home to around half a million Jews and five million Muslims—the largest in Europe for both religions.
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in the Middle East often spill over onto the streets of France. Last year, synagogues were attacked and Jewish-owned shops were set on fire during the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
French President François Hollande called for unity in the face of anti-Semitism in a televised address after police raids put an end to the grocery standoff and another north of Paris, where two gunmen who attacked the offices of a satirical magazine on Wednesday had holed up.
“It was obviously a horrible anti-Semitic act that was committed,” he said in reference to the targeting of the kosher store.
A man identifying himself as the alleged gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, 32, called the French news channel BFM TV after storming the store, Hyper Cacher. When the broadcaster asked him why he had decided to attack that particular supermarket, he replied he wanted to target “some Jews,” the channel reported after Mr. Coulibaly was killed in a police assault.
Some Parisian Jews were in a stoic mood during the day Friday as they waited to hear news of the outcome.
To T. Meyer, a historian on his way to Friday prayers, the latest attacks were regrettable but unsurprising.
“I fear for the hostages, yes, but I am not scared.” He said he expects further terror attacks and has little faith in the French government to protect Jews or other French people.
“There are too many crazy people, and I don’t think this will stop. I don’t have much hope that France will take the required forceful measures of finding and kicking out the extremists. France isn’t strong enough to something like that,” he said.
The shock waves reverberated to the U.S.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, said he and his staff were discussing extra security precautions after the attack in France, even though the center already has armed guards and a frequent police presence.
“I’ve never felt more vulnerable than now,” Rabbi Hier said.
Rabbi Hier said he was part of a delegation of Jewish leaders that met with Mr. Hollande in June to discuss anti-Semitism in France. He said delegates asked French officials about how the Muslim clergy in France mitigated or encouraged radical views.
“The question being asked is: What can we do in the U.S. to take care of our brothers and sisters in France and what can we do to be as vigilant as possible in the U.S.?” said Jay Sanderson, president and chief executive of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.
Mr. Sanderson said that for his organization, the events in France will likely mean fundraising to secure Jewish institutions in France, and fund French Jews who want to leave the country for Israel.
“I feel we’re all vulnerable, and Jews especially are vulnerable,” Mr. Sanderson said. “I feel very unsettled and unsafe now.”
Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/frances-jews-shudder-over-being-targeted-for-attackagain-1420850789
“It is impossible to live like this,” said Daniel Corcos, a 60-year-old volunteer at a synagogue in eastern Paris, who said he sometimes shops at the store where four hostages were killed and several others injured on Friday, the Jewish Sabbath.
“The Jew isn’t safe in France,” he said. “You go to buy food, and you’re dead.”
Mr. Corcos said he has already bought a home near Tel Aviv, where he has moved his children. “If you think a lot of Jews left France last year, this year the number is going to be five times higher,” he said.
Friday’s shootings amounted to the deadliest attack against French Jews since the 2012 killing of three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school in Toulouse. The event also reminded many of a 1982 attack on a restaurant in the Marais district in central Paris, the symbolic heart of the city’s Jewish community, that left six dead.
‘You go to buy food, and you’re dead.’
—Daniel Corcos, a Jewish resident of Paris
Stores on the normally crowded Rue des Rosiers in the Marais were told by French authorities to close early, a precautionary measure against further attacks against Jewish establishments. The police were on constant patrol on the narrow streets in the area throughout the afternoon as many Jews prepared for their weekly Friday evening prayers.
“Are we surprised? No. Am I scared? No. There’s no point in being scared,” said a defiant Martine Oiknine, a manager at the falafel restaurant Mi-va-mi. She insisted on staying open despite the order to close. “Will things change? I really don’t think so. More [terrorist attacks] will happen.”
France is home to around half a million Jews and five million Muslims—the largest in Europe for both religions.
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in the Middle East often spill over onto the streets of France. Last year, synagogues were attacked and Jewish-owned shops were set on fire during the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
French President François Hollande called for unity in the face of anti-Semitism in a televised address after police raids put an end to the grocery standoff and another north of Paris, where two gunmen who attacked the offices of a satirical magazine on Wednesday had holed up.
“It was obviously a horrible anti-Semitic act that was committed,” he said in reference to the targeting of the kosher store.
A man identifying himself as the alleged gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, 32, called the French news channel BFM TV after storming the store, Hyper Cacher. When the broadcaster asked him why he had decided to attack that particular supermarket, he replied he wanted to target “some Jews,” the channel reported after Mr. Coulibaly was killed in a police assault.
Some Parisian Jews were in a stoic mood during the day Friday as they waited to hear news of the outcome.
To T. Meyer, a historian on his way to Friday prayers, the latest attacks were regrettable but unsurprising.
“I fear for the hostages, yes, but I am not scared.” He said he expects further terror attacks and has little faith in the French government to protect Jews or other French people.
“There are too many crazy people, and I don’t think this will stop. I don’t have much hope that France will take the required forceful measures of finding and kicking out the extremists. France isn’t strong enough to something like that,” he said.
The shock waves reverberated to the U.S.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, said he and his staff were discussing extra security precautions after the attack in France, even though the center already has armed guards and a frequent police presence.
“I’ve never felt more vulnerable than now,” Rabbi Hier said.
Rabbi Hier said he was part of a delegation of Jewish leaders that met with Mr. Hollande in June to discuss anti-Semitism in France. He said delegates asked French officials about how the Muslim clergy in France mitigated or encouraged radical views.
“The question being asked is: What can we do in the U.S. to take care of our brothers and sisters in France and what can we do to be as vigilant as possible in the U.S.?” said Jay Sanderson, president and chief executive of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.
Mr. Sanderson said that for his organization, the events in France will likely mean fundraising to secure Jewish institutions in France, and fund French Jews who want to leave the country for Israel.
“I feel we’re all vulnerable, and Jews especially are vulnerable,” Mr. Sanderson said. “I feel very unsettled and unsafe now.”
Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/frances-jews-shudder-over-being-targeted-for-attackagain-1420850789
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