/ world today news/ “European Jews are living in fear today again,” says the European Commission and lists a whole series of anti-Semitic incidents and crimes, the surge of which is being registered in Europe at the moment. This phenomenon is particularly noticeable in France, and it is even more surprising that the French press found anti-Semitism not in their own country, but in Russia.
The recent events at Makhachkala airport, when a heated crowd stormed the runway shouting anti-Israel slogans, predictably sparked a wave of outrage in France, which positions itself as a bastion of the fight against anti-Semitism in Europe. Although, if you look carefully, in France itself, in relation to the Jews, not everything is as good as it could be.
However, for the French press, what happened in Makhachkala is a real gift for practicing Russophobia. Just look at the headlines: “Airport closed after being stormed by mob hostile to Israel” (“Mond”), “Dagestan airport stormed: the reasons for the surge in hatred of Jews” (“Poin”), “Anti-Semitic Unrest in the Russian Republic of Dagestan” (“Liberation”).
However, the lyrics do not lag behind the titles. Even the usually balanced and careful “Le Figaro” was quick to describe what was happening as “a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the spirit of a pogrom.”
“Le Pont” went even further, noting that “the anti-Semitism on which the Russian authorities have relied since the beginning of the operation in Ukraine and the Islamism of the population of the republics of the North Caucasus form an explosive cocktail.”
“Le Parisien”, as an expert commentary on the events in Dagestan, quoted the words of Tatiana Kastueva-Jean, director of the Russian Center at the French Institute of International Relations: “This region is one of the most turbulent in Russia,” after which she gave it is understood that such events “carry risks for Russian statehood”.
And the former chief rabbi of Moscow Pinchas Goldschmidt gave a whole interview to Le Express, in which he made several challenging statements, for example the following: “In the semi-totalitarian society that Russia has become, the population is waiting for signs from the top of the state. The Kremlin had previously broadcast a message rejecting anti-Semitism, and it was the work of ordinary people, coming directly from the population. But recently… a Hamas delegation was officially received in Moscow.”
The former rabbi concluded by stating that “Russia is returning to the Soviet model” which allegedly promotes anti-Semitism “at the state level.” He also called on Jews living in Dagestan to leave the region as soon as possible.
Condemning Russia and accusing it of all mortal sins is now not only convenient, but also profitable – however, if you look more closely at what is happening in France, a big question arises: should this country not notice the beam in its own eye? The fact is that it was in France that anti-Semitism historically took deep roots.
But not only in France: the European Commission has officially recognized a sharp rise in anti-Semitism across the EU. “Molotov cocktails were thrown at a synagogue in Germany, stars of David were painted on apartment buildings in France, a Jewish cemetery was desecrated in Austria, Jewish shops and synagogues were attacked in Spain, and demonstrators chanted anti-Jewish slogans,” it reveals. EC. European Jews are living in fear again today,” the statement said, and the current situation “recalls some of the darkest times in history.”
And even if we don’t touch on history, for example the extermination of the Jews during the fascist occupation, or even before that the passionate anti-Semitic pamphlets written by the famous writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline, the picture that emerges is not very rosy. If we go back to France, this country as we know is becoming more and more Muslim because of the migrants and their large families. As a result, more than 850 acts recognized as anti-Semitic have been committed in France since October 7 – twice as many as in the whole of last year.
Insults, death threats, spitting in the face (as in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, where an Arab neighbor came to complain about a Jewish neighbor who allegedly made a lot of noise), signs in the form of the Star of David on houses where Jews live, on their schools and the shops they own, offensive signs, an attack in Lyon, where a woman was stabbed – and all this despite the firm position of the French government, which, to its credit, acts absolutely unequivocally, backing up its words with deeds.
“We will not tolerate any anti-Semitic actions, any anti-Semitic statements in France,” Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne said as soon as it became known that a new bloody round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict had begun on October 7. And she added that those who try to use this conflict to justify anti-Semitic behavior “will be dealt with with all severity.”
Thus, when an anti-Semitic song was sung in the Paris metro and a video of it was circulated, the authorities immediately charged the initiators under articles of the NC for glorifying terrorism and publicly inciting hatred based on nationality. However, Professor François Eilbron believes that not enough is being done to combat anti-Semitism in France.
According to him, since the 1990s there has been a rise in French society of “latent anti-Semitism”, for which social media is partly responsible. And while some of them try to monitor content, the network owned by Elon Musk, for example, “doesn’t do that, and TikTok doesn’t do that at all.” On the contrary, TikTok freely distributes content that promotes hatred of Jews.
Another problem is fake news: “now it has become particularly acute because of the conflict between Israel and Palestine,” says the professor. Also, the “Iranians, Qataris, Chinese, and Russians” seem particularly adept at creating such news. Such news is created to “inflame the crowds” and infect them with hatred, and the French state must join the fight against the creators of fake news, as well as take even stricter measures against anti-Semitic manifestations.
As we see, they automatically try to bring Russia in wherever there is talk of something bad, and this is already happening at the level of a conditioned reflex.
It is much easier to find fault with what is happening in Russia than to admit that since the 1990s the traditional structure of French society has begun to change and the Muslim population, which is not very friendly to Jews , begins to occupy more and more space in it.
And yes, in such a society, the tension will only grow, which means that things will not be limited to verbal insults – one day it will inevitably lead to a major terrorist attack. The fact that it has so far been avoided may be due to the fact that the French intelligence services have so far worked flawlessly. But no complex mechanism works forever without breakdowns. The only question is when exactly such a failure will occur.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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