A new exodus? The reality of being Jewish in Europe today

[Janelle2002 3,865]

The Observer

A new exodus? The reality of being Jewish in Europe today

After a wave of antisemitic attacks across Europe, many Jews are wondering what the future holds. We hear seven contrasting voices, from France to Turkey

We now have a heavily armed soldier on the gate: a Belgian paratrooper keeps guard outside a Jewish school in Antwerp. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

Natalie Nougayrède, Kim Willsher, Kit Gillet, Kate Connolly, Zia Weise, John Hooper, Katie Forster, Lars Eriksen, Ashifa Kassam

Sunday 5 April 2015 03.30 EDTLast modified on Thursday 16 July 201511.15 EDT

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Introduction by leading foreign-affairs commentator Natalie Nougayrède

These are gruelling times for those in Europe who identify themselves as Jewish or have a Jewish background. For many, it is a time of fear and distress. Antisemitism is on the rise, fed by trends that threaten the fabric of European consciousness and values. Extreme right-wing movements are thriving and they often carry elements of age-old European antisemitism. Europe has also been hit by the sectarianism and fanaticism that seeps out of the Middle East. Violent jihadism has struck in Paris, Copenhagen, Brussels and Toulouse. Violent radicalised youths only represent a tiny minority of Muslims, but they are dangerous and their numbers are growing in Europe. Their ideology of hatred finds fertile ground in pauperised suburbs and the racism that populist parties promote when they stigmatise immigrants.

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It sometimes feels as if Europe is caught in a vicious circle where dismal economic figures and identity problems make communities ever more suspicious of one another. The lessons of Europes history should be drawn on constantly as an antidote to much of this. In 1989 I started travelling to Eastern Europe after the Berlin Wall fell, and some of the most moving experiences I had came from visiting the many places where Jews had disappeared because of the Nazi genocide: the ruins of villages in former shtetl lands; the empty, abandoned synagogues of Hungarian or Ukrainian cities; the neighbourhoods of Prague and Warsaw where Jewish artists, intellectuals and writers once brought a unique and essential ingredient to European culture.

There are 1.4 million Jews living in Europe today. They are an intimate part of the continent and what it should stand for, which is tolerance, and the acceptance that our continent has always been a mosaic of cultures and religions, each contributing to exchanges that make life more fulfilling. Some voices, among them Israels leader Benjamin Netanyahu, have called on Europes Jews to emigrate to Israel for security. Fear can be understandable, but that kind of message is not what is needed. It would mean the negation of Europes diversity and very identity. There has been no better time to treasure that diversity and listen attentively to the myriad individual experiences that compose it.

Jean-François Bensahel, 51, Paris, president of the Israelite Reform Union at the synagogue in Paris where in October 1980 a bomb exploded, killing four people

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/05/a-new-exodus-jewish-in-europe

Edited November 27, 2015 by Janelle2002

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

The Observer

A new exodus? The reality of being Jewish in Europe today

After a wave of antisemitic attacks across Europe, many Jews are wondering what the future holds. We hear seven contrasting voices, from France to Turkey

We now have a heavily armed soldier on the gate: a Belgian paratrooper keeps guard outside a Jewish school in Antwerp. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

Natalie Nougayrède, Kim Willsher, Kit Gillet, Kate Connolly, Zia Weise, John Hooper, Katie Forster, Lars Eriksen, Ashifa Kassam

Sunday 5 April 2015 03.30 EDTLast modified on Thursday 16 July 201511.15 EDT

Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInShare on Google+Share on WhatsApp

Shares

4,903

Comments1,403

Save for later

Introduction by leading foreign-affairs commentator Natalie Nougayrède

These are gruelling times for those in Europe who identify themselves as Jewish or have a Jewish background. For many, it is a time of fear and distress. Antisemitism is on the rise, fed by trends that threaten the fabric of European consciousness and values. Extreme right-wing movements are thriving and they often carry elements of age-old European antisemitism. Europe has also been hit by the sectarianism and fanaticism that seeps out of the Middle East. Violent jihadism has struck in Paris, Copenhagen, Brussels and Toulouse. Violent radicalised youths only represent a tiny minority of Muslims, but they are dangerous and their numbers are growing in Europe. Their ideology of hatred finds fertile ground in pauperised suburbs and the racism that populist parties promote when they stigmatise immigrants.

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It sometimes feels as if Europe is caught in a vicious circle where dismal economic figures and identity problems make communities ever more suspicious of one another. The lessons of Europes history should be drawn on constantly as an antidote to much of this. In 1989 I started travelling to Eastern Europe after the Berlin Wall fell, and some of the most moving experiences I had came from visiting the many places where Jews had disappeared because of the Nazi genocide: the ruins of villages in former shtetl lands; the empty, abandoned synagogues of Hungarian or Ukrainian cities; the neighbourhoods of Prague and Warsaw where Jewish artists, intellectuals and writers once brought a unique and essential ingredient to European culture.

There are 1.4 million Jews living in Europe today. They are an intimate part of the continent and what it should stand for, which is tolerance, and the acceptance that our continent has always been a mosaic of cultures and religions, each contributing to exchanges that make life more fulfilling. Some voices, among them Israels leader Benjamin Netanyahu, have called on Europes Jews to emigrate to Israel for security. Fear can be understandable, but that kind of message is not what is needed. It would mean the negation of Europes diversity and very identity. There has been no better time to treasure that diversity and listen attentively to the myriad individual experiences that compose it.

Jean-François Bensahel, 51, Paris, president of the Israelite Reform Union at the synagogue in Paris where in October 1980 a bomb exploded, killing four people

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/05/a-new-exodus-jewish-in-europe

I am at a total loss on which way to go with this one. Are they black Jews by any chance

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Uhhhh no. The articles says Jews. Does it mention black anywhere?

Edited November 27, 2015 by Janelle2002

[OriZ 3,157]

lol @ black jews

[OriZ 3,157]

What the article doesn't mention(at least not the quoted part) is that unlike the old days these days majority of the attacks are done by muslims and not by the right wing...the european right these days seems to have alot more in common with the jews than the european left.

Before I get asked for links here they are

http://www.timesofisrael.com/3-jews-stabbed-in-anti-semitic-attack-in-france/

http://nypost.com/2015/11/18/teacher-at-jewish-school-stabbed-in-france-by-isis-supporters/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-17426313

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11473334/Jewish-supermarket-in-Paris-attacked-during-siege-in-French-capital-reopens.html

Just a few examples from recent years and months

Edited November 27, 2015 by OriZ

[Janelle2002 3,865]

So this article holds no truth and the President is not asking Jews to move back to Israel? And this article does touch on Muslims as well. I know it's upsetting to realize Jews are still widely discriminated against in Europe and not just by Muslims.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

What the article doesn't mention(at least not the quoted part) is that unlike the old days these days majority of the attacks are done by muslims and not by the right wing...the european right these days seems to have alot more in common with the jews than the european left.

Before I get asked for links here they are

http://www.timesofisrael.com/3-jews-stabbed-in-anti-semitic-attack-in-france/

http://nypost.com/2015/11/18/teacher-at-jewish-school-stabbed-in-france-by-isis-supporters/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-17426313

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11473334/Jewish-supermarket-in-Paris-attacked-during-siege-in-French-capital-reopens.html

Just a few examples from recent years and months

So only Muslims are attacking Jewish people?

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

What the article doesn't mention(at least not the quoted part) is that unlike the old days these days majority of the attacks are done by muslims and not by the right wing...the european right these days seems to have alot more in common with the jews than the european left.

Before I get asked for links here they are

http://www.timesofisrael.com/3-jews-stabbed-in-anti-semitic-attack-in-france/

http://nypost.com/2015/11/18/teacher-at-jewish-school-stabbed-in-france-by-isis-supporters/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-17426313

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11473334/Jewish-supermarket-in-Paris-attacked-during-siege-in-French-capital-reopens.html

Just a few examples from recent years and months

Ok the attacks are by Muslims I am back on track now

[OriZ 3,157]

So only Muslims are attacking Jewish people?

Did I say only?

I said the majority in recent years have been by muslims. In Europe. Especially France. And especially the attacks that actually had severe casualties, like the shooting at the jewish school several years ago.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Did I say only?

I said the majority in recent years have been by muslims. In Europe. Especially France. And especially the attacks that actually had severe casualties, like the shooting at the jewish school several years ago.

I just asked since you brought it up even though the article already stated it. Like all other groups that were mentioned didn't carry the same amount of weight.

Ok the attacks are by Muslims I am back on track now

You may now hate properly.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Ok the attacks are by Muslims I am back on track now

Nope

"

Im part of a wave of young Israelis who have come to Berlin. I cant say I feel unsafe here, but Im not part of a Jewish community its not like we all gather in a café with Jewish symbols, which would be targeted. The most blatant antisemitic attack Ive faced here was not so long ago. A young Caucasian man came up to me and an Israeli visitor with whom I was speaking Hebrew, and told us to ###### go back to Israel. It took my breath away."

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

I just asked since you brought it up even though the article already stated it. Like all other groups that were mentioned didn't carry the same amount of weight.

You may now hate properly.

Thank you I was really confused there for a second

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Thank you I was really confused there for a second

Not really, it's not about Muslims, it's about the discrimination Jewish people face. There are many groups that do this. But for some reason the focus has to be on Muslims.

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

Not really, it's not about Muslims, it's about the discrimination Jewish people face. There are many groups that do this. But for some reason the focus has to be on Muslims.

But before Muslims came to Europe in great numbers, there was never any discrimination against jews.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

But before Muslims came to Europe in great numbers, there was never any discrimination against jews.

Huh?