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17 Ellul 5761 - September 5, 2001 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Jews Attacked in Paris
by Arnon Yaffeh

Approximately two hundred Arabs from the suburbs of Paris attacked Jews on Sunday (14 Elul) on the Champs Elysees in Paris. Witnesses said that a mob of Arabs marched along the avenue shouting "Death to the Jews" and "Destroy Israel." A Jew who passed by in a car said that the rioters looked like "death squads" of antisemitic organizations, and shouted the very same slogans which were heard on Champs Elysees prior to the Second World War at the height of Nazi hysteria.

The Arabs chased and hit scores of young Jews and tourists who tried to escape. It took an hour for riot police to arrive on the scene and to disperse the Arabs with tear gas and clubs. The newspapers, as is common in such incidents, did not report the antisemitic attacks, except for La Parisienne which spoke only about fights among youths on Champs Elysees without any details of the true nature of the disturbance.

Frightened parents called the Jewish radio stations on Monday to report the antisemitic attack. Jews said that they don't feel safe in France any more, and complained that the authorities are burying their heads in the sand and displaying indifference to Arab antisemitism due to their fear of the Arabs. One Jewish woman said that she feels that Jews should leave France and that many are thinking of moving to Israel or to Canada.

According to a number of reports, Jews in various vacation spas in south France suffered from violence and attacks of the Arabs. Jewish organizations also are keeping mum on the issue, and are cautious not to blame the Arabs for the attacks. Instead they speak about the "youth from the suburbs."

The Jews fear that as the presidential elections approach the situation will grow worse, because the politicians, especially from the Left, will inundate young Arabs with French citizenship who eligible to vote, with anti-Israeli propaganda in order to gain their votes. At the time the of the attack on Champs Elysees, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said: "We can't sit by idly as the Palestinians and the Israelis behave rashly, dragging the entire region into the abyss. The international community must act sternly in order prevent disaster, and must return to the principle of land for peace."

In the meantime, he is sitting by idly in the face of the antisemitic attacks in France.

Pascal Boniface, the head of the Institute for Foreign Affairs of the pro-Arab lobby, has already warned the French Jews, in articles in La Monde, to maintain a low profile and not to support Israel unless they want to incite violence against themselves. The Arabs in France also received support for their antisemitic attacks at the United Nations convention in Durban and the antisemitic decisions against Israel there.

The same atmosphere of beatings, riots and threats against the Jews which prevailed at the convention in South Africa prevails in the suburbs where Arabs and Jews live, as well as in the Metro and on the busses.

The media condemn Israel constantly. A Jewish traveler found a swastika stamped on his passport after he handed it in to customs to release his goods from customs. We wonder whether the customs authority saved this seal since the Nazi era. Israel's ambassador to France, Eli Barney complained about the ugly mood in France.

 

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