French Jews were only partly reassured when more than 100,000 people, including the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, and two former presidents, turned out to demonstrate in Paris last month against antisemitism and in defence of the secular republic. Why did the president, Emmanuel Macron, not attend, many asked? Where were the leaders of France’s Muslim community? And where were the cultural, intellectual and sports celebrities so often eager to take a public stance on a worthy cause?
Since Hamas fighters poured into Israel from the Gaza Strip on 7 October, slaughtering around 1,200 Israeli men, women and children, a wave of antisemitic attacks and hate speech has swept over France, home to Europe’s biggest Jewish community (of around 440,000 people) and its largest Muslim population (of around 6 million people).
“The Jews of France are afraid. What can we do?” a caller who identified herself only as Martine pleaded on a breakfast-time news programme this week. Yonathan Arfi, president of the Jewish Representative Council in France, says he hears from parents who have told their children not to wear kippah skullcaps or Star of David chains in the street or on public transport for fear of being attacked. Some Jews have taken their names off letterboxes and doorbells or changed the name on their Uber account for safety.
One of the country’s most popular radio and television entertainers, who uses the stage name Arthur (real name Jacques Essebag), shocked many fans when he revealed that he had been living under guard since the day after the Hamas attacks. “This is France in 2023. I live in Paris and I have agents protecting me and my family because I’m Jewish. It’s crazy, no?” he said. » | Paul Taylor | Saturday, December 2, 2023
