William Molinié, edited by Philippe Folgado // Photo credit: David Cliff / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP
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7:25 a.m., November 12, 2023
The disgust of French people of Jewish faith in this climate of anti-Semitism is growing. So much so that some have decided in recent days to join Israel, a country at war. A decision which turns out to be a real breath of fresh air, far from the insults and attacks in France.
“When I see Stars of David on buildings, when I see swastikas, I even hear people in pro-Palestinian demonstrations shouting ‘death to the Jews’ or ‘murdering Israel’, I don’t understand,” admits this French woman from the Paris region, who came to pray in front of the Place des Otages. She arrived mid-week, because she needed to participate in the country’s mourning. But above all, she could no longer stand the ambient anti-Semitism of recent days in France.
“I don’t feel protected”
“I’m shocked by what’s happening, I feel like I’m back in the 1940s,” she explains. Despite the conflict with Hamas, the triggering of Israeli warning sirens by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, she feels safer here than in a Parisian street: “I don’t feel protected. I know very well although tomorrow I will be attacked or insulted as a ‘dirty Jew’ or something else.”
What provokes this feeling of fear is also the legal response for the attackers: “the person who does this, what will they get? One hour in police custody? And afterward, they will come out with nothing”, says She. “This hatred that is spreading in France, frankly, yes, it’s scary.” She is not the only one to have made this decision to leave France. 30,000 Jews left French territory to settle in Israel, fleeing the increase in anti-Semitic acts.