French Jews were relieved to learn of the arrest and conviction of Nizar Ouedrani, a man who assaulted a young Jew wearing a kippah in Paris last July, as the victim was walking toward a synagogue. The incident is one among dozens, but for the first time, Jewish leaders noted, the court opted for a severe sentence.
If I were the boss of L.A. Jewry, I\’d make it easier for French Jews to move to Los Angeles. Why? Because many of them would love to live here. And judging from those that have already settled here, they boost the local economy, they enhance our quality of life, and they love their Judaism.
Since the French Revolution guaranteed their full civil and political rights, French Jews have played a major role in the development of the French republican ideal and model. A list, from that time onward, of the French political leaders tied to the community, illustrated by real statesmen and women, would simply be too long. Not to mention artists, scientists, philosophers, writers, actors and musicians, spiritual figures.
That appears to be the consensus of French Jews, who are simultaneously alarmed at the widespread violence of mostly Muslim youths in suburbs around the country — and relieved that Jews have not been directly targeted, as they were during the height of the Palestinian intifada.
This is the season of le grand départ, when millions of French people leave for their summer vacation. Eighty-four percent of the French population will be going away on holiday this summer, and there are traffic jams hundreds of kilometers long from Paris to the Riviera.
But this year, as the masses pack their bathing suits, say au revoir to their co-workers and squeeze into crowded trains bound for the sea, Jew haters don\’t seem to be taking a holiday.
French Jewish leader Roger Cukierman has moderated his tone during the past 12 months — but his message appears largely unaltered.
Jews in France are living \”in a time of malaise,\” Cukierman, president of the CRIF umbrella organization of French Jews, told more than 800 guests at the group\’s annual dinner Saturday.
With French Jews complaining about a rise in anti-Semitic violence, there appears to be a sharp increase in the number of people inquiring about immigrating to Israel.
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