It was a little over a month ago that the city of Paris, France was rocked by three consecutive days of terrorist violence. Twelve were killed in the January 7th attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical magazine that had gained publicity for publishing controversial cartoons of the Islamic prophet Mohammed in 2006 and 2011. A French police woman was killed the following day in the Parisian suburb of Montrouge by another gunman, dressed similarly to the Hebdo attackers.
The violence culminated on January 9th with the attack on a kosher supermarket in the Parisian suburb Porte de Vincennes, where nineteen people were taken hostage, four of whom were killed: Yoav Hattab, François-Michel Saada, Philippe Braham, and Yohan Cohen. Once again the Jewish communities of France and the world found themselves facing yet another slaughter of innocents, killed for the crime of being Jewish.
It is no secret that anti-Semitic tensions have been on the rise in Europe for months.
“The recent attacks in France have brought greater awareness upon myself and my family within Britain, higher levels of caution in regards to trips within Europe and a strengthening of community caution,” said Natasha Bassalian, a London native and a junior at Stern College. “Within my younger cousin’s class, several new French children have enrolled this year.”
Bassalian did note that the situation has been more peaceful in Britain than in France. “During times of protest, there was a sense of unease, but things have remained relatively peaceful, [though a] pro-Palestian and Iranian presence is beginning to strengthen,” she noted. “Though I don’t feel that [my sense of belonging in Britain] has changed in regards to the current unease within Europe, I do ultimately feel my real home of safety and protection is in Israel,” she concluded.
Esther Eliacheff is a native of Strasbourg, France who graduated from Stern College this past January. The week of terrorist attacks, she said, was shocking.
“The attack at Charlie Hebdo was so unexpected for me. It’s terrible to say it, but Jews always get used to a certain level of violence around them. After the murder of Alan Halimi [in 2006] and the school slaughter in Toulouse [in 2012], Jews in France knew that it was only a matter of months or years until the next attack.”
“One of the young men killed during this [supermarket] attack was a friend of my friend,” she continued. “The news of his death was heartbreaking.”
Though the media has made a point of late to highlight the rising anti-Semitic tensions in France, according to Eliacheff this is old news.
“Anti-Semitism is not a new phenomenon in France. I’ve always felt it to a certain point,” she said. “A friend of mine was assaulted for wearing a Kippa few years ago and I’ve been insulted for being Jewish a few times, but unfortunately, we don’t pay enough attention to these everyday harassments I also live in a still peaceful city outside of Paris, but some of my friends from Paris and other “hot” – that is, dangerous – cities such as Toulouse or Sarcelles can’t even go to shul on Shabbat and try to hide their Judaism as much as possible outside their home.”
Since the attacks in Paris in January, the situation in Europe has remained serious. A report by the Jerusalem Post on January 25th stated that the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), a prominent think tank in Jerusalem, had presented Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with a contingency plan for absorbing France’s roughly 120,000 Jews. In Britain, a Neo-Nazi group was reported to be planning an “anti-Jewification” rally in the Stamford Hill neighborhood of London, the center of London’s Jewish community. And on February 3rd, a job posting on a French job site was found with the criterion, “if possible, not Jewish”, though the company claims that this was caused by a hacker.
Despite living with the tension of being Jewish in France, Eliacheff still has a love for her home country, but admits that at this point, “I don’t see myself building my life in France anymore.”
“Living in New York has shown me how it is possible to fully enjoy a Jewish and secular education without the fear of being insulted or threatened by my Judaism,” said Eliacheff. “I remember my surprise when I saw for the first time young men wearing their Kippot in the street without shame, or holding proudly an Israeli flag. I feel freer and more secure as a Jew as I walk down the street.”