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statements in support of the Jewish Jews are increasing. Surveys show that
PARIS community. Did the President‘s 90% of Jewish students in France have
response reassure you?
been bullied or attacked.
To his credit, in the Sarah Halimi case, This is especially true in the outlying
President Macron called for justice. suburbs of the major cities, the “ban-
lieues.” These areas have been described
President Macron, together with the rest
of the government and most of the polit- as the “lost territories of the Republic”
ROBERT EJNES is the Executive ical leaders of France, are supportive according to a book first published in
2002, which showed that Jewish chil-
Director of the Conseil of the Jewish community. The Jewish dren had to leave the public school
Représentatif des Institutions communal buildings are secured with system in some of these areas.
the assistance of the Ministry of Interior
Juives de France (CRIF), and Jewish synagogues, schools, and
(Representative Council of events are protected by security forces. Jews may not feel threatened in the
streets, but nonetheless we share a
French Jewish Institutions), The Jews are threatened by terrorists feeling of insecurity in France.
the official French affiliate of more than other French citizens. The
the World Jewish Congress president and the government under-
(WJC), the worldwide umbrella stand this, and this is meaningful to our In the wake of the Halimi trial, what
community.
organization of Jewish do you believe lies ahead for the
communities, and of the Jewish community of France?
European Jewish Congress. How has the ruling impacted the Jews have lived in France for more than
Jewish community‘s sense of secu- 2000 years. They have survived being
rity in France? expelled from France in the Middle Ages,
How did the Jewish community of the Dreyfus affair of the 19th century,
France react to the court‘s ruling The fact that the antisemitic crime of the Vichy regime of the Second World
in the Sarah Halimi case? Do you Sarah Halimi went unpunished leads War and the Shoah.
essentially to a loss of trust in the
believe the court‘s ruling was French Judicial system.
antisemitic? They also remember that France was
Since the recent wave of antisemitism the first country to give Jews emancipa-
The Halimi Case is a long and complex in the 2000s, Jews have felt a greater tion and full citizenship in the modern
judicial story. Sarah Halimi was mur- sense of insecurity in France. Reports
dered by being thrown out of a window established by the security service of the era. Globally, Jews have a very long his-
on April 4, 2017 by a Muslim fundamen- Jewish community together with the tory in France and feel very attached to
talist. The murderer was immediately Ministry of Interior show that antise- the French Republic and to its culture
arrested but put under psychological mitic threats and attacks against French and history. Jews have also very exten-
surveillance. For several months the sively contributed to the Republic. There
judge hesitated to label the killing as are many new home constructions in
antisemitic. The assailant was declared Jewish areas, a sign that many Jews
to be not criminally responsible when believe they have a future here.
the judges ruled the murderer was At the same time, French Jews are very
undergoing a psychotic episode due to close to Israel. Most Jewish families
cannabis consumption, as established in France have relatives in Israel, visit
by three independent psychiatric
analyses. Israel very often (when they are not
prevented from doing this because of
The final decision was made by the high- the Coronavirus), and about 2,000 Jews
est French Court, the Cour de Cassation, make Aliyah from France each year.
which confirmed the previous decision, (Editor’s Note: This is around eight times
so the assailant will not be judged for the rate of American Aliyah, per capita)
the crime of murdering Sarah Halimi. However, Aliyah numbers jumped to

The Court ruling was based on legal close to 8,000 per year from 2013–2015
principles, but while the judges can be after the Toulouse killing, when a Rabbi
justified within the technical letter of and three children were murdered in a
the law, they did not serve justice to Jewish school in another antisemitic
Sarah Halimi and to the Jews of France. attack.
London’s Rabbi Sam Taylor expressing solidarity
President Emmanuel Macron criti- with French Jewry at a rally outside the French What will be the future of the 500,000
cized the court‘s decision and made Embassy in Knightsbridge. (PHOTO: FACEBOOK) Jews in France? Only G-d knows.” n

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