As many as 90,000 of France’s 350,000 Jews – more than one fourth – were murdered in the Holocaust, within living memory. So when Jewish synagogues and businesses are attacked in Paris by mobs chanting “Death to the Jews,” (on Bastille Day, no less) it ought to be news.
Not to the U.S. broadcast networks – at least not when the mob is Muslim. In Paris on Sunday, three Jews were hospitalized after a violent attack on a synagogue by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. According to the Jerusalem Post, “‘The attackers splintered off an anti-Israel demonstration and advanced toward the synagogue when it was full,’ said Alain Azria, a French Jewish journalist who covered the event.”
They chanted anti-Semitic slogans and hurled things at the synagogue, which had about 200 worshippers inside. Five police officers barred them from entering until men from a Jewish self-defense organization arrived and fought them off. “‘They were determined to enter and the police did not have enough forces,’” Azria told the Post.
One of the Jewish leaders told Israeli radio that, “The Palestinians had rocks, glass, axes, knives ... they were armed and I made sure that no one would leave the synagogue, in order to protect the lives of our people.” Continues after video.
The attack comes on the heels of the firebombing of a different Paris synagogue last Friday. On July 8, “a man described as having a Middle Eastern appearance assaulted a Jewish 17-year-old girl on a Paris street,” according to Harretz. The attacker allegedly shouted, “Dirty Jewess, inshallah you will die.”
Muslim anti-Semitism has been on the rise in Europe and particularly France. According to The New York Times, among others, Jews are leaving France for Israel at an increasing rate.
But it’s not just France. There reportedly was violence at pro-Israel demonstrations in Los Angeles and Boston. At an anti-Israel demonstration in Germany, a crowd chanted “You Jews are beasts.” On Twitter, users said worse under the hashtags #HitlerWasRight and #HitlerDidNothingWrong. In all instances, the current Israeli-Hamas conflict is just an excuse for Jew hatred.
Many print outlets have noted the hatred, as have CNN and even MSNBC. On July 14, Ronan Farrow said the “conflict has anti-Semitism boiling over across France.” But ABC, CBS and NBC have steadfastly ignored it. Question: if the haters were “right-wing” extremists, would Brian Williams et al hesitate to report it?
