Anti-Semitic attacks drive record levels of French aliyah

[shira]

But the crowd in the office last week is not in the mood for jokes. Many are moving imminently and have pressing questions about the validity of their Jewish marriage contract and Israeli taxes on their cars. Others still harbor resentment over a perceived lack of security for French Jews that ultimately has led them to see safe harbor in the Jewish state.

Their stories paint a portrait of a community rich with educated professionals who are finding it increasingly hard to envision a future here amid rising anti-Semitism and a stagnant economy. Some profess a deep desire to become part of Israel’s vibrant society and economy.

Looming in the background is what many Jews here refer to simply as “Toulouse,” the 2012 slaying of three children and a rabbi by an Islamist at a Jewish school in the southeastern city. Many of France’s estimated 600,000 Jews, the third-largest Jewish community in the world, live in the shadow of the attack. “Since Toulouse, my family and I worry every day that my grandchildren go to school,” says Menache Manet, a 64-year-old Parisian who will be leaving for Israel in several weeks with his son and four grandchildren. “I grew up in a civilized country,” he adds, his voice trembling with anger. “Nowadays, I take off my kippah on my way to synagogue.”

According to a European Union survey of nearly 6,000 Jews from nine countries released last month, France ranked second only to Hungary in the number of Jews contemplating emigration because of anti-Semitism, with a staggering 46 percent of 1,137 French Jews polled. France also was second in the number of Jews who feared self-identifying as such in public, with 29 percent.

more...
http://www.timesofisrael.com/surge-in-anti-semitic-attacks-drives-record-levels-of-french-aliyah/

A supposedly enlightened 21st century Europe is failing to protect its Jews once again. Some folks argue there's no need for the Zionist state....

[Benton D Struckcheon]

1. Well, let's see,

Europe's Jews were fleeing the Holocaust, Arab Jews were expelled, so why would you need a place for them to go? None that I could think of...

[jessie04]

2. Last jew to leave France, please turn out the lights.

Watch Sweden. They will be first to go.

[shaayecanaan]

3. and if you read further...

the article goes on to quote French Jews, who give their real reasons for leaving:-

While security fears seem to play a determinative role in French aliyah, community leaders say the scale has been exaggerated.

‘There are more than 5 million Jews in America and about half a million in France, yet aliyah from France may surpass American aliyah’ Roger Cukierman, president of the CRIF umbrella body of French Jewish communities, acknowledges the discomfort of French Jews but insists that aliyah does not amount to an exodus.

“It is still within the normal spectrum of 1,500 to about 3,000,” Cukierman says.

Yeshaya Dalsace, a well-known Conservative rabbi from Paris, is more outspoken.

“It’s a total exaggeration,” Dalsace says. “There is a worrying reality, but by and large Jews are leaving for the same reasons other Frenchmen are leaving.”

Frenchmen, especially the young, are indeed leaving, according to a Le Figaro report this week showing the number of French citizens under 35 seeking work in Canada and Australia jumped by about 10 percent over 2012.

Sociologists attribute this to the recession in France, which this year registered a growth rate of nearly zero. Among professionals under 24, the unemployment rate stands at 24 percent. These and other factors led Standard & Poor’s to lower France’s credit last month, the second cut this year.

All this is felt on the ground in the French capital, where luxury businesses are closing down and many once-popular cafes are trying to lure clients with discounts and what some are calling “crisis menus.”

“I’ve been cursed at at the metro a few times because I wear a kippah, but so what,” says Olivier Cohen, a university graduate in his 20s who wants to move to Israel. “Look around , there is no movement, no prospects, no jobs. I want to go a dynamic environment.”

To Cohen, life in Paris provides a stark contrast with Israel, where despite lower median incomes than in France, the projected economic growth rate of 3.8 percent is more than triple the average among countries in the Organization for for Cooperation and Economic Development, according to OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria.

[oberliner]

4. "French Jews, who give their real reasons for leaving..."

“Since Toulouse, my family and I worry every day that my grandchildren go to school,” says Menache Manet, a 64-year-old Parisian who will be leaving for Israel in several weeks with his son and four grandchildren.

“I grew up in a civilized country,” he adds, his voice trembling with anger. “Nowadays, I take off my kippah on my way to synagogue.”

Edit to add: Not understanding why Olivier Cohen's quote that you cited is more significant than this one from Menache Manet.

[shaayecanaan]

5. Because he doesnt give that as his reason for leaving...

although it may well be. But the view from Jewish community leaders is that economic reasons are more important.

My impression is that the article writer sought to write a balanced article that was then gussied up with a far more sensational title and byline.

[King_David]

6. So toy mean there's no AntiSemitism in France ?

Oh good , thanks for the proclamation .

[shaayecanaan]

7. anyone who thought I said that, please raise your hand nt