Anti-Semitism in France: ‘In 2017, We Had to Move Because we’re Jewish’

Antisémitisme: En 2017, on a dû déménager parce qu’on est juif

• In 2016, the number of anti-Semitic acts and threats fell sharply compared to 2015.
• In some cities of Seine-Saint-Denis, synagogues closed, the world’s fault.
• This “exodus” inside is still difficult to assess.

(translated from French via Google translate)

For weeks, André * slept with a bat baseball at the foot of his bed. A violently slammed the door made her jump. “After the burglary, I was always on the alert. With my wife, we no longer felt safe with us, “says the energetic septuagenarian by stirring his coffee. In spring 2015, his apartment was ransacked twice a few weeks apart. The second time, the thugs have left a trace message to the lipstick on the guestroom wall leaving little doubt as to their motivation: ”  dirty Jew, long live Palestine  .” So after 40 years in Bondy, in Seine-Saint-Denis. The couple set sail in December 2015, management Villemonble in the “golden triangle” of the department.

If his wife had not opposed it, Andrew, who defines himself as a Jew “traditionalist” but that does not bear the kippa on Fridays for Shabbat, would have left Israel to aliyah. In 2016, 5,000 departures were recorded, 8,000 the year before. The attacks against the Jewish school Ozar HaTorah  in Toulouse, groceries hide in Sarcelles or the Hypercacher Vincennes sometimes served click. “These attacks were a shock but it obviously does not underestimate Semitism we live every day . For a long time, Jews were targeted through their symbols, today, it directly attacks the people, “said Sammy Ghozlan, president of National Bureau of Vigilance against Anti-Semitism(BNVCA).

The Wall Andre – Personal collection / André

Decline in anti-Semitic acts in 2016

Si on s’en réfère au Service de protection de la communauté juive (SPCJ), qui s’appuie sur les données du ministère de l’Intérieur, les agressions physiques ou verbales à caractère antisémite ont fortement baissé en 2016: 355 actes et menaces ont été recensés contre 808 l’année précédente. Mais l’année 2015, celle des attentats, a été marquée un pic d’actes racistes, aussi bien antisémites qu’ antimusulmans. Depuis l’an 2000 et la seconde Intifada, les agressions physiques et verbales antisémites n’ont eu de cesse d’augmenter, marquées par des pics suivant le rythme de l’actualité (Ilan Halimi, l’affaire Dieudonnée, les manifestations pro Gaza en 2014…). D’autant que ces chiffres sont probablement sous-estimés car ils ne s’appuient que sur les plaintes … (read more)

Source: Antisémitisme: «En 2017, on a dû déménager parce qu’on est juif»