He watched in horror as several hundred youths marched towards his synagogue chanting slogans that he had never thought would again be uttered in France.
“They were shouting: ‘Death to Jews,’ and ‘Slit Jews’ throats’,” said David, a Jewish sound engineer who has lived in the multicultural Parisian suburb of Sarcelles for 49 years. “It took us back to 1938.”
David, who declined to give his surname, was speaking after his suburb north of the capital witnessed an anti-Jewish riot on Sunday night involving Muslim youths demonstrating in support of the Palestinian cause. (Times of London)
“It took us back to 1938.”
By virtually all accounts, the worst examples of anti-Semitism come from France, a country with a rich history of Jew-hatred. In the aforementioned Sarcelles, for example, a neighborhood so heavily populated with Sephardic Jews that it was become known as "Little Jerusalem," violence is at a fevered pitch.
Rioters, ostensibly demonstrating in favor of Palestinian rights, set fire to and smashed windows of Jewish-owned businesses and synagogues.
"To attack a synagogue and a kosher grocery store is quite simply anti-Semitism and racism," said French Prime Minister Manuel Valls. "When you threaten synagogues and when you burn a grocery because it is Jewish-owned then you are committing anti-Semitic acts. Protest against Israel is legitimate. Nothing can justify such violence," said French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. (LA Times)
This isn't a one-off instance of a protest that got out of hand. Just one week prior, protesters tried to storm two synagogues in Paris. Now, it's Jewish homes and businesses.
(A Sarcelles pharmacy, torched by anti-Semitic rioters)
The English-language French Newspaper The Local reported that "several Jewish business were torched, including the Naouri kosher market which was the target of a flash-bang grenade attack in 2012. Rioters also tried to approach a synagogue, before being repelled by riot police." Also heard were chanted of "Hitler for President!"
(The Nouri Kosher supermarket, a day after being firebombed)
More from The Local:
The repeat of the violence left some members of the anxious and concerned Jewish community in Sarcelles considering leaving France.
“We’ve been thinking about moving to Israel for some time now,” Daniel Ullmann, 58, a teacher told The Local. “There is a part of France that is very xenophobic. There’s a part of the population that has no liking for foreigners.”
As he spoke to The Local a passerby shouted at him: “Go back to Israel!”, which drew only a sad shrug and knowing grimace from Ullmann.
Though the problem is most acute in France, other countries are far from immune.
Vox has reports from Germany and the Netherlands, for example, of what probably began as pro-Palestinian and/or anti-Israel protests and quickly devolved into anti-Semitism.
Great Britain, while a haven compared to France, has also seen its own sharp increases in anti-Semitism.
Britain’s Jewish community has seen an almost unprecedented doubling of anti-Semitic incidents over the last few weeks, the Jewish Community Trust reported...after a specific incident in central London’s Oxford Street, [where a mob attacked a 57-year old Jewish woman] a crowded center for Londoners and tourists alike, Mark Gardner, the CST’s director of communications, told The Jerusalem Post that the anger in anti-Israel demonstrations “risks getting out of hand.”
[...]
Meanwhile in north Manchester where there is a substantial haredi community, the local Jewish newspaper reported that a group of pro-Palestinians drove through the Broughton Park area shouting “Heil Hitler.” They were in a convoy of four or five cars and described as being of South-Asian ethnic appearance.
It had followed a similar anti-BBC demonstration outside the BBC’s Manchester headquarters in Salford Quays. A Jewish man told Manchester police that he was pelted by cans of drink from passengers in cars on which Palestinian flags were displayed. (JPost)
There is no doubt that every government on earth--including Israel's--is worthy of criticism. And criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza can be absolutely appropriate. But we're not seeing mere criticism or action against government policies. We are seeing outright anti-Semitism that is reminiscent of far more deadly European Jew-hatred.