Der Henker
06-23-2004, 02:11 AM
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0622/p01s03-woeu.html
"[COLOR=Red]There is no future for Jews in France[/COLOR]," laments Daniel Haik, one of the syna- gogue's administrators. "We suffered one ethnic cleansing when we were forced to leave Tunisia and we are on the verge of another."
Schoolchildren are roughed up or robbed on their way home, school buses are often stoned, and [COLOR=Red]identifiably Jewish men are insulted as "dirty Jews."[/COLOR] Few of these incidents are ever punished.
"I take my skullcap off when I go down towards the station," in an area more heavily populated by Arab immigrant families, says Rafael Hazout, a young kosher butcher. [COLOR=Red]"People look at you as if you are an animal.[/COLOR] So as not to make trouble I take it off, and I'm left alone."
That sense is deepened, he and other Jewish residents of Sarcelles say, by the fact that most French people sympathize more with the Palestinians than with Israelis in the conflict that pits them against each other.
And when young Muslims attack Jews as surrogate Israelis, they believe, French society stands aside.
"It seems that French people see anti-Semitism as ordinary," worries Djebali. "We get the feeling that we are being told, 'If you want to complain, go and complain to [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon.' "
In that atmosphere, he suggests, more and more Sarcelles Jews will begin thinking seriously about emigrating to Israel, whatever the risks of pulling up sticks.
"[COLOR=Red]There is no future for Jews in France[/COLOR]," laments Daniel Haik, one of the syna- gogue's administrators. "We suffered one ethnic cleansing when we were forced to leave Tunisia and we are on the verge of another."
Schoolchildren are roughed up or robbed on their way home, school buses are often stoned, and [COLOR=Red]identifiably Jewish men are insulted as "dirty Jews."[/COLOR] Few of these incidents are ever punished.
"I take my skullcap off when I go down towards the station," in an area more heavily populated by Arab immigrant families, says Rafael Hazout, a young kosher butcher. [COLOR=Red]"People look at you as if you are an animal.[/COLOR] So as not to make trouble I take it off, and I'm left alone."
That sense is deepened, he and other Jewish residents of Sarcelles say, by the fact that most French people sympathize more with the Palestinians than with Israelis in the conflict that pits them against each other.
And when young Muslims attack Jews as surrogate Israelis, they believe, French society stands aside.
"It seems that French people see anti-Semitism as ordinary," worries Djebali. "We get the feeling that we are being told, 'If you want to complain, go and complain to [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon.' "
In that atmosphere, he suggests, more and more Sarcelles Jews will begin thinking seriously about emigrating to Israel, whatever the risks of pulling up sticks.