There is no future left for Jewish communities in Europe. That’s the inescapable conclusion of You Only Live Twice by Michel Gurfinkiel in Mosaic Magazine. The lengthy article is a long trip down the death during World War II and then rebirth of Jewish communities in Europe, and how that rebirth is being snuffed out by renewed anti-Semitism from multiple directions, particularly leftist demonization of Israel and Islamist anti-Semitism. This Leftist-Islamist coalition, centered around hatred of Israel, is a topic we’ve explored here many times in connection with anti-Semitism in Malmö, Sweden, on British campuses, in the BDS movement, in the academic boycott movement, among other places. The fact is that while intellectually one can distinguish anti-Israeli fervor from anti-Semitism, in reality, on the streets of Malmö and Paris, and elsewhere in Europe, they are one and the same.That was a year before the 2014 Gaza conflict, which so many blame for the rise of anti-Semitic violence in Europe. Anti-Semitism and violence directed at Jews in Europe are not about Gaza.
With as many as 45 per cent of British Jews fearing they 'may not have a future in Britain', according to a survey by the Campaign Against Antisemitism - and following an experiment by Israeli Zvika Klein on the streets of Paris, British journalist Jonathan Kalmus decided to test the levels of prejudice in two British cities with shocking results. Volunteers in Copenhagen and Rome also suffered some abuse, as well as welcoming reactions, while Jewish journalists in Stockholm and Berlin walked for hours without incident. 'You Jew' was the anti-Semitic scream which came from a passing car. My shaken wife tried to explain it away to my seven-year-old daughter as a very large sneeze. They were simply playing in a local park in Manchester a few weeks ago when the incident ripped through what should have been a peaceful and wholesome time for any mother and child.
"Go f*** from the front and the back," "Viva Palestine," "Hey you, with the kippa, what are you doing here?" these were only a few of the remarks sent my way as I was walking through the streets of Paris wearing a tzitzit and a kippa. Welcome to Paris 2015, where soldiers are walking every street that houses a Jewish institution, and where keffiyeh-wearing men and veiled women speak Arabic on every street corner. Walking down one Parisian suburb, I was asked what I doing there. In modern-day Paris, you see, Jews are barred from entering certain areas.
Steven Emerson, the expert on terrorism, has caused a sigh of relief among the bien pensants of the Western world. By making inaccurate and false claims on Fox News, he has enabled them to pour righteous scorn on him and thereby avoid thinking about uncomfortable social realities.A defense of Emerson's basic point, if not his specific description, is provided by the Gatestone Institute, European 'No-Go' Zones: Fact or Fiction? Part 1, France. (added) See also, Jonathan Tobin, ‘No-Go Zones’ Are Not a Conservative Meme. Regardless of whether "No-Go Zone" is a proper term in a general way, there is no doubt that there are cities and sections of many cities in Europe which are no-go zones for those publicly identifying as Jewish by dress (e.g., wearing a kippah/yarmulke) or symbols (e.g. wearing a Star of David) or appearance (e.g., long beard in combination with dress and symbols). We have explored the problem of Walking While Jewish repeatedly over the years, including recently regarding "Kippah Walks" in placed like Copenhagen to protest harassment of Jews on the street, frequently by groups of Muslim young men. Though it's not only men, as this woman in Copenhagen demonstrated with her Heil Hitler shout when she spotted Jews at a restaurant:
When I was in Paris, I was advised by complete strangers to remove my kippah so as not to be identifiable as a Jew: http://t.co/PspmGuwiD1
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) January 9, 2015
Below are a couple of videos from the assaults on Jewish sections of Paris and a Synagogue during "pro-Palestinian" riots last summer over the Gaza conflict.
See also several of my posts (some of the videos in the posts have gone bad):
Muslims segregated from French society in growing Islamist mini-states A backdrop to the massacre in Paris on Wednesday by self-professed al Qaeda terrorists is that city officials have increasingly ceded control of heavily Muslim neighborhoods to Islamists, block by block. France has Europe’s largest population of Muslims, some of whom talk openly of ruling the country one day and casting aside Western legal systems for harsh, Islam-based Shariah law. “The situation is out of control, and it is not reversible,” said Soeren Kern, an analyst at the Gatestone Institute and author of annual reports on the “Islamization of France.” “Islam is a permanent part of France now. It is not going away,” Mr. Kern said. “I think the future looks very bleak. The problem is a lot of these younger-generation Muslims are not integrating into French society. Although they are French citizens, they don’t really have a future in French society. They feel very alienated from France. This is why radical Islam is so attractive because it gives them a sense of meaning in their life.”
A Jewish school in Denmark informed parents that its pupils are no longer allowed to wear religious symbols near school grounds. The private Caroline School in Copenhagen informed parents of the policy in a recent letter, the Jyllands-Posten daily reported Friday. The letter said it was not permissible for students of the 7th, 8th and 9th grades to leave school premises if they are wearing visible Jewish symbols.... Hansen also said the move was “pure preventative.” He added: “I know there has been an increase in the number of Jews who have been accosted over the summer in connection with the conflict in Gaza.”When actor Seth Menachem traveled recently in Denmark and Sweden, his group encountered numerous acts of anti-Semitism:
My friend tells me that Sweden ever so quickly has gone from so-called anti-Zionism to open anti-Semitism, and that no one seems to care. “Don’t come back.” That’s what he said to me; “Don’t come back here, you have no idea how bad it has become since you left.” I went to Israel on July 23....
A rabbi from the Swedish city of Malmo was attacked by men who hurled objects at him from a car and used anti-Semitic pejoratives. Rabbi Shneur Kesselman was assaulted on Saturday night along with a member of his congregation, the Sydsvenskan daily reported Sunday. The attack, which resulted in no physical injuries, came on the heels of vandalism against the southern city’s main synagogue on July 31, when unidentified individuals smashed three of the building’s windows by hurling objects at them.
A demonstration in Frankfurt against Operation Protective Edge erupted into violence, with protesters tossing stones at the police. According to the Frankfurter Rundschau paper, about 2,500 protesters appeared in downtown Frankfurt, screaming “God is great,” and slogans such as “freedom for Palestine” and “children-murderer Israel.” Eight police officers were injured. One sign at the rally was titled, “You Jews are Beasts.” German media reported that after the protests, groups sought to locate Jewish institutions. The Frankfurt police said Jewish institutions would be protected. It is unclear if the goal was to attack said institutionsThe JPost did not run the photo, but I believe this is the sign "The Jews are Beasts" to which they were referring (see Featured Image also):
Man beaten with iron pipe for flying Israeli flag...
“Call it the yogurt’s-expiration-date syndrome"...
A life lesson -- Israeli director critical of occupation beaten by Arabs in France: Arab men assaulted an Israeli film director in southern France following the screening of his film criticizing Israeli occupation. Yariv Horowitz was rendered unconscious as a result of the beating Monday by several men...
Jews have been under seige and attack in the Swedish city of Malmö for years as leftist policitians turned a blind eye or cooperated in anti-Israeli agitation by Islamists and other pro-Palestinian groups. See my prior post, Malmö Syndrome. It is a phenomenon spreading across...
I have written a number of times about the persecution of Jews in the Swedish city of Malmö by Islamists with the connivance of anti-Israeli leftists, including the Mayor: Malmö Syndrome All Swedes Are Malmö Jews Now Not Just Malmö This Islamist-Leftist coalition manifesting itself in anti-Israeli actions which inevitably...
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