When travelling around Europe this summer, I absolutely fell in love with Paris. Which is why it’s so hard for me to accept that such a beautiful city is also such a centre for hatred of Jews. In the latest escalation of a long string of antisemitic incidents in France, a Rabbi has been stabbed in a Paris synagogue.
According to [Israel Radio] the assailant stabbed Rabbi Gabriel Farhi, 34, in the stomach, shouting “Allah Wakbar we will kill you” before running away.
[. . .]
Farhi told the radio that this was not the first time he or his family had been threatened and that very morning he had received a threat.
If this was an isolated event, that might be one thing. But France has managed to distinguish itself as an epicentre of hatred even among stiff competition. As Jeff Jacoby from the Boston Globe writes:
To be sure, some Europeans are shocked by the re-emergence of Jew-hatred all over their continent. But the more common reaction has been complacency. “Stop saying that there is antisemitism in France,” President Jacques Chirac scolded a Jewish editor in January. “There is no antisemitism in France.”
Sure, Monsieur Chirac, I guess it was that “other” kind of Jew-hatred.
The latest article in the jpost says:
The morning of the attack, the headquarters of the community received a letter threatening the life of the rabbi: “We will get Rabbi
Gabriel Farhi and take revenge for the blood of our Palestinian brethren…We will wage jihad against him, the punishment of the
enemies of our cause…After burning down his synagogue, we will take revenge directly on him.”
Now what is the meaning of Jihad?
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1041677512014
Interestingly, it seems Rabbi Farhi is a left-wing pacifist. Not that that would matter to the Jihadis.
The incident last year in which President Chirac told the editor of Tribune Juif that “there are no anti-Semites in France” sent a shiver up my spine. Arutz Sheva interviewed Olivier Guland shortly after the incident. Hear it here: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/metafiles/asx/engnews/features/Guland.asx
Mike,
It is also interesting to note that the US diplomat murdered in Jordan by Muslim fundamentalists was working for USAID providing clean water to Jordanians – probably why he didn’t have a tight security detail.
And the three Americans murdered by islamic fundamentalists in Yemen were helping to provide much needed medical care to sick Yeminites.
Not to condone the stabbing — I find the act reprehensible and criminal — but the press isn’t doing a great job of covering the details behind the story.
Rabbi Gabriel Farhi recieved a death threat prior to the stabbing and claims to have recieved more in the past. Why was he specifically targeted?
Ha’aretz:
“[Rabbi Gabriel Farhi] runs the Paris office of the Jewish Liberal Movement of France (MJLF) [of which his father, Rabbi Daniel Farhi is the founder and president] which campaigns for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The movement, affiliated to the World Union for Progressive Judaism…”
From the World Union for Progressive Judaism:
“We are committed to (Medinat Yisrael), the State of Israel, and rejoice in its accomplishments. We affirm the unique qualities of living in (Eretz Yisrael), the land of Israel, and encourage(aliyah), immigration to Israel.”
(http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/10-Reform/section-41.html)
The Jewish Liberal Movement of France (www.mjlf.col.fr) links to another site, Americans for A Safe Israel (www.afsi.org), which states:
“AFSI is unique in its proud and outspoken advocacy of Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the Golan as integral parts of Israel….Most importantly, the pioneering efforts of the residents in these areas have the potential of rejuvenating a dormant Zionism and igniting a second Zionist revolution.
”
And though Rabbi Daniel Farhi claims “This attack is all the more surprising given that I have always been for peace in the Middle East, for a fair and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians” (Ha’aretz), he can’t be all that surprised since the organisation he runs and his father heads advocates for yet more settlements and a greater Israel on yet more Palestinian (and Syrian) territory.