Monday, September 15, 2008
Muslims attack Jews in France
Muslim immigrants attack three Jewish teens in Paris
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and DPA
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1018853.html
08/09/2008
Three Jewish teens were attacked by a group of Muslim African immigrants in Paris on Saturday evening, a French police spokeswoman said Sunday.
The Jewish teens, ages 17 and 18, who have been identified as Dan Nebet, Kevin Bitan and David Boaziz, are leaders of the Bnei Akiva youth group in Paris' 19th District.
Thiery Nebet, Dan's father, told Haaretz over the phone that according to what his son had said, as they were walking down the street, "Four or five Arabs of African origin started to throw walnuts at Kevin. When he went up to them to ask them why they did it, they surrounded him and knocked him down. Kevin and David moved in and very quickly more Arabs joined in and started to beat the three with their fists and with chains."
The Jewish teens were hospitalized, one with a broken nose and jaw and all three with bruises, and filed a police report after their release. Police opened an investigation and are looking for the Muslim teenagers allegedly responsible for the attacks.
According to the chairman of the Jewish Students Union in France, Raphael Haddad, barrages of stones were thrown at the three teens during the attack. Haddad also said the incident occured on Petit Street in the 19th District, not far from where a 17-yea-ar-old Jewish youth was attacked and seriously injured by immigrants on June 21.
The attack is one of a long series of racial attacks in Europe in general and in France in particular. France has Western Europe's largest population of both Jews and Muslims.
The assault was condemned by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and was described by Jewish organizations as an act of anti-Semitism. The Jewish Agency's envoy in Paris, Rafi Zaush, told Army Radio that attacks in the 19th District are common but most incidents are less violent and therefore not reported by the media.
The French ministerial committee to fight racism and anti-Semitism showed concern over the incidents in the 19th District and turned to the mayor, requesting he beef up police presence ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The French Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the attack was motivated by anti-Semitism, saying the incident ended with relatively little damage.
According to Thiery Nebet a large number of Jews live in the 19th District and, "The atmosphere here is difficult. Now I need to protect our sons so they will not talk a great deal, because that is what we were told by the community's security people. This time it was my son; it can be anyone. The Jews want to live in peace but it's impossible with the Arabs here. We go around with a skullcap and that bothers them, but we don't care. If we have to take off our skullcaps to live better, it's better to leave now."
Benjamin Touati, head of the French desk of World Bnei Akiva, said Sunday: "The situation is very worrisome. One hundred meters from the place of the attack is a Chabad school with 1800 female students."
----
Jewish teen brutally beaten in apparent anti-Semitic attack in Paris
By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/995088.html
22/06/2008
A 17-year-old French Jew was attacked on Saturday night in Paris, an assault condemned by President Nicolas Sarkozy and said by Jewish organizations to be an act of anti-Semitism.
The young man, identified as Rudy Haddad by one Jewish organization, was attacked by youths of African origin, a police source said, and the National Agency of Vigilance Against Anti-emitism said he had been attacked with iron bars.
Police said five youths had been held for questioning, and one police source told Reuters the victim was suffering "serious neurological problems."
The Union of French Jewish Students said Haddad had been identified as Jewish because he was wearing a kippa (skullcap), and had suffered several broken ribs and a fractured skull and was in intensive care at a hospital in central Paris.
"The victim was wearing a kippa and was on his way back home when his attackers, after identifying him as Jewish, started to beat him," the union said.
The number of attackers was not known, varying from 6 or 7 to 30, depending on sources. Haddad's father told French radio RTL there were around 15 attackers.
Two police sources said the attack took place right after a skirmish between two groups of youths, one Jewish and the other of North African origin. They said it was unclear whether Haddad had taken part in the confrontation.
They said such skirmishes were a regular feature in the multi-confessional Buttes Chaumont neighbourhood in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.
The assault was immediately condemned by French President Nicola Sarkozy, who began a three-day visit to Israel on Sunday aimed at reinforcing his
image as an ally of the state.
"[Sarkozy] assures the victim and his family of his support and renews his total determination to fight all forms of racism and anti-Semitism," said a statement from Sarkozy's office.
Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie expressed her "profound emotion" and announced in a statement the opening of an investigation to determine the circumstances of the attack.
A 23-year-old French Jew, Ilan Halimi, was found naked, tortured and covered in burns near Paris on February 13, 2006, after being held captive for three weeks. He died on the way to the hospital.
The crime shocked France and raised fears of surging anti-Semitism among French Muslims.
In February of this year, another Jewish teenager was tortured in the same town in which Halimi was killed, in yet another anti-Semitic attack.
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and DPA
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1018853.html
08/09/2008
Three Jewish teens were attacked by a group of Muslim African immigrants in Paris on Saturday evening, a French police spokeswoman said Sunday.
The Jewish teens, ages 17 and 18, who have been identified as Dan Nebet, Kevin Bitan and David Boaziz, are leaders of the Bnei Akiva youth group in Paris' 19th District.
Thiery Nebet, Dan's father, told Haaretz over the phone that according to what his son had said, as they were walking down the street, "Four or five Arabs of African origin started to throw walnuts at Kevin. When he went up to them to ask them why they did it, they surrounded him and knocked him down. Kevin and David moved in and very quickly more Arabs joined in and started to beat the three with their fists and with chains."
The Jewish teens were hospitalized, one with a broken nose and jaw and all three with bruises, and filed a police report after their release. Police opened an investigation and are looking for the Muslim teenagers allegedly responsible for the attacks.
According to the chairman of the Jewish Students Union in France, Raphael Haddad, barrages of stones were thrown at the three teens during the attack. Haddad also said the incident occured on Petit Street in the 19th District, not far from where a 17-yea-ar-old Jewish youth was attacked and seriously injured by immigrants on June 21.
The attack is one of a long series of racial attacks in Europe in general and in France in particular. France has Western Europe's largest population of both Jews and Muslims.
The assault was condemned by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and was described by Jewish organizations as an act of anti-Semitism. The Jewish Agency's envoy in Paris, Rafi Zaush, told Army Radio that attacks in the 19th District are common but most incidents are less violent and therefore not reported by the media.
The French ministerial committee to fight racism and anti-Semitism showed concern over the incidents in the 19th District and turned to the mayor, requesting he beef up police presence ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The French Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the attack was motivated by anti-Semitism, saying the incident ended with relatively little damage.
According to Thiery Nebet a large number of Jews live in the 19th District and, "The atmosphere here is difficult. Now I need to protect our sons so they will not talk a great deal, because that is what we were told by the community's security people. This time it was my son; it can be anyone. The Jews want to live in peace but it's impossible with the Arabs here. We go around with a skullcap and that bothers them, but we don't care. If we have to take off our skullcaps to live better, it's better to leave now."
Benjamin Touati, head of the French desk of World Bnei Akiva, said Sunday: "The situation is very worrisome. One hundred meters from the place of the attack is a Chabad school with 1800 female students."
----
Jewish teen brutally beaten in apparent anti-Semitic attack in Paris
By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/995088.html
22/06/2008
A 17-year-old French Jew was attacked on Saturday night in Paris, an assault condemned by President Nicolas Sarkozy and said by Jewish organizations to be an act of anti-Semitism.
The young man, identified as Rudy Haddad by one Jewish organization, was attacked by youths of African origin, a police source said, and the National Agency of Vigilance Against Anti-emitism said he had been attacked with iron bars.
Police said five youths had been held for questioning, and one police source told Reuters the victim was suffering "serious neurological problems."
The Union of French Jewish Students said Haddad had been identified as Jewish because he was wearing a kippa (skullcap), and had suffered several broken ribs and a fractured skull and was in intensive care at a hospital in central Paris.
"The victim was wearing a kippa and was on his way back home when his attackers, after identifying him as Jewish, started to beat him," the union said.
The number of attackers was not known, varying from 6 or 7 to 30, depending on sources. Haddad's father told French radio RTL there were around 15 attackers.
Two police sources said the attack took place right after a skirmish between two groups of youths, one Jewish and the other of North African origin. They said it was unclear whether Haddad had taken part in the confrontation.
They said such skirmishes were a regular feature in the multi-confessional Buttes Chaumont neighbourhood in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.
The assault was immediately condemned by French President Nicola Sarkozy, who began a three-day visit to Israel on Sunday aimed at reinforcing his
image as an ally of the state.
"[Sarkozy] assures the victim and his family of his support and renews his total determination to fight all forms of racism and anti-Semitism," said a statement from Sarkozy's office.
Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie expressed her "profound emotion" and announced in a statement the opening of an investigation to determine the circumstances of the attack.
A 23-year-old French Jew, Ilan Halimi, was found naked, tortured and covered in burns near Paris on February 13, 2006, after being held captive for three weeks. He died on the way to the hospital.
The crime shocked France and raised fears of surging anti-Semitism among French Muslims.
In February of this year, another Jewish teenager was tortured in the same town in which Halimi was killed, in yet another anti-Semitic attack.
Labels: Anti-Semitism, Antisemitism, French antisemitism, French Jews, Islamic antisemitism, Islamofascism
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Antisemitism in modern France grows
Jewish teen brutally beaten in apparent anti-Semitic attack in Paris
By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/995088.html
Sun., June 22, 2008 Sivan 19, 5768
A 17-year-old French Jew was attacked on Saturday night in Paris, an assault condemned by President Nicolas Sarkozy and said by Jewish organizations to be an act of anti-Semitism.
The young man, identified as Rudy Haddad by one Jewish organization, was attacked by youths of African origin, a police source said, and the National Agency of Vigilance Against Anti-emitism said he had been attacked with iron bars.
Police said five youths had been held for questioning, and one police source told Reuters the victim was suffering "serious neurological problems."
The Union of French Jewish Students said Haddad had been identified as Jewish because he was wearing a kippa (skullcap), and had suffered several broken ribs and a fractured skull and was in intensive care at a hospital in central Paris.
"The victim was wearing a kippa and was on his way back home when his attackers, after identifying him as Jewish, started to beat him," the union said.
The number of attackers was not known, varying from 6 or 7 to 30, depending on sources. Haddad's father told French radio RTL there were around 15 attackers.
Two police sources said the attack took place right after a skirmish between two groups of youths, one Jewish and the other of North African origin. They said it was unclear whether Haddad had taken part in the confrontation.
They said such skirmishes were a regular feature in the multi-confessional Buttes Chaumont neighbourhood in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.
The assault was immediately condemned by French President Nicola Sarkozy, who began a three-day visit to Israel on Sunday aimed at reinforcing his image as an ally of the state.
"[Sarkozy] assures the victim and his family of his support and renews his total determination to fight all forms of racism and anti-Semitism," said a statement from Sarkozy's office.
Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie expressed her "profound emotion" and announced in a statement the opening of an investigation to determine the circumstances of the attack.
A 23-year-old French Jew, Ilan Halimi, was found naked, tortured and covered in burns near Paris on February 13, 2006, after being held captive for three weeks. He died on the way to the hospital.
The crime shocked France and raised fears of surging anti-Semitism among French Muslims.
In February of this year, another Jewish teenager was tortured in the same town in which Halimi was killed, in yet another anti-Semitic attack.
----
Jewish teen tortured in French town where Ilan Halimi was killed
By Daniel Ben Simon, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/961212.html
Wed., May 28, 2008 Iyyar 23, 5768
The incident of brutal abuse began at 10 A.M. on February 22. Mathieu Roumi, 19, whose father is Jewish, was strolling through his neighborhood in the Paris suburb of Bagneux, which has been the site of violent riots by immigrants in the past two years. The suburb became notorious as the scene of Ilan Halimi's 2006 murder, which horrified France.
Roumi ran into two youths he knew. They discussed a sum of money that he supposedly owed them. An argument ensued, after which they beat him and, with the help of a third friend, dragged him to a dark basement. The three assailants were joined by three other youths, all neighborhood residents and neighbors of Roumi.
For two hours the attackers tortured the young man. One shoved cigarette butts into his mouth, another took issue with Roumi's Jewish origin, grabbed correction fluid and scrawled "dirty Jew" on his forehead. The six men proceeded to scream at him and threaten that he would die the way Halimi did.
They identified themselves as members of the "Barbarians," the same gang that kidnapped Halimi from his store, demanded ransom for his release, and when that was not forthcoming, tortured the 23-year-old over the course of three weeks. Moments after he was dumped on the street, Halimi died.
Roumi told police investigators that throughout his ordeal, his assailants employed measures with sexual and sadistic connotations. When the issue of his sexual orientation arose, one of them placed a condom on the tip of a stick and shoved it in Roumi's mouth.
"We admire Youssouf Fofana!" they shouted at him, referring to the leader of the gang that murdered Halimi. Fofana and 29 other suspects are on trial for abduction, torture and murder. If convicted, they can expect a life sentence.
Roumi's life was spared because one of the assailants, who owned the basement space, had to leave and take the key with him. Roumi was set free and returned home, battered and broken. When he got to his parent's home, they sent him immediately for a medical examination.
The next day Roumi went to the police. In a matter of hours, the six assailants were arrested. Most are in their 20s, two come from Muslim homes, two are "fully" French, and another two are African and Portuguese immigrants. They told interrogators that they had not meant to hurt Roumi.
Sami Gozlan, a former police investigator appointed by the Jewish community to monitor anti-Semitic incidents, visited the Roumi family the day after the incident.
"The family was in a terrible state," he told Haaretz Wednesday. "The father was weeping like a baby and couldn't believe that such a thing could happen to his son in France. The mother was also deeply upset. They told me that their younger children were forced to stay with relatives outside the neighborhood. Mathieu himself is still in shock."
"Sadly the lesson of Halimi's murder has not been learned," Gozlan added. "The fact that angry immigrant youth can kidnap a Jew in broad daylight and abuse him proves that the lesson has yet to be learned."
Jewish organizations condemned the attack and urged the authorities to increase police vigilance in mixed immigrant neighborhoods, where fear of attacks against Jews runs especially high.
----
Swastika drawn on French Jewish woman in anti-Semitic attack
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/852843.html
Last update - 16:36 27/04/2007
A young Jewish woman was viciously attacked on Thursday by unidentified assailants in a train station in Marseilles. The attack was described by one observer as the "worst anti-Semitic incident in France since the murder of Ilan Halimi" over a year ago.
French police investigating the incident have imposed a gag order on all details of the attack, but David Roche, a Jewish Agency representative in France who is in touch with officials there said the incident is being described as an anti-Semitic attack.
According to details received from Roche, the attack occured in the afternoon when a 22-year-old woman arrived at the metro station of the La Rose district - which has a mixed Muslim and Jewish community.
According to reports, two unidentified men of Middle Eastern appearance approached the woman and began abusing her. At some point, they began hitting her, and one report states that she was dragged by the hair.
When they saw a Star of David on her neck, they lifted her shirt and drew a cross on her abdomen. One of the witnesses said it was a swastika.
The two assailants fled the scene.
In a telephone interview from Paris, Roche told Haaretz that Marseilles police have set up a special investigation squad and are searching the La Rose district.
The young woman gave testimony to the police for many hours, and sources at the Jewish Agency say she was confused and found it difficult to tell her story.
----
Halimi murder sparks increased interest in immigration among French Jews
By Amiram Barkat
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=696519
Last update - 01:40 21/03/2006
The number of French Jews who are looking into the possibility of immigrating to Israel has doubled since the torture-slaying of Ilan Halimi last month. According to David Roche, European general director for the Jewish Agency, since the murder, dozens of French Jews have contacted the Jewish Agency to inquire about immigration.
In 2005, some 3,000 French Jews moved to Israel, compared to 2,400 in 2004.
Jewish Agency chairman Ze'ev Bielski, who is currently visiting Jewish communities in France, met yesterday with Jewish leaders, who told him of their concerns in the aftermath of the murder. Bielski also met with Halimi's mother, Ruth, and offered the Jewish Agency's assistance to her and the rest of the family.
"There is no hysteria among France's Jews," Bielski said, "but there is certainly an upturn in the number of people taking an interest in visiting Israel, as well as in housing and employment.
"The issue of employment is of the most concern," he added.
----
21 charged with kidnap, murder of Jewish man
By Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters , By Daniel Ben-Simon
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/955962.html
Thu., February 21, 2008 Adar1 15, 5768
Twenty-one people will be tried in France for the 2006 kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi, a French Jew, in a trial expected to generate a great deal of interest in the country's Jewish and African communities.
Another seven suspects face trial for failing to report a crime, while one will be tried in a court for children because she was under 16 at the time of the attack on Halimi.
Halimi, 23, was found naked, tortured and covered in burns near Paris on February 13, 2006, after being held captive for three weeks in a crime that shocked France and raised fears of surging anti-Semitism among French Muslims. He died of his injuries soon afterward.
The African community, which gave rise to the self-styled "gang of barbarians" accused of killing Halimi, says the suspects were motivated by money rather than anti-Semitism. The suspects include Muslim immigrants from North Africa, and immigrants from Congo and the Ivory Coast.
The self-proclaimed "brain of the Barbarians," Youssouf Fofana, was eventually arrested in the Ivory Coast. Fofana told police that he led the gang and organized Halimi's kidnapping, but has denied killing him. If he is convicted, he is expected to receive a life sentence.
Fofana and 18 other suspects are in jail pending the trial, which will be heard before a juvenile court because some were youths at the time of the attack. The other suspects have blamed Fofana for the abduction and murder, telling police he recruited them to the gang and that they joined because they didn't have anything better to do.
"We were bored," one of the suspects said.
No trial date was set, and a judicial source said it might not be held until 2009.
Police say the gang attempted to kidnap several Jewish youths before capturing Halimi. They then sent a series of ransom demands to his parents, asking for as much as 450,000 euros, but lengthy negotiations failed to secure his release.
The kidnappers used a pretty young woman - a blonde of Iranian descent - to entice Halimi into a trap, dragging the telephone salesman to a cellar where they proceeded to beat and torment him. Police investigators said the kidnappers acted with indescribable cruelty.
By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/995088.html
Sun., June 22, 2008 Sivan 19, 5768
A 17-year-old French Jew was attacked on Saturday night in Paris, an assault condemned by President Nicolas Sarkozy and said by Jewish organizations to be an act of anti-Semitism.
The young man, identified as Rudy Haddad by one Jewish organization, was attacked by youths of African origin, a police source said, and the National Agency of Vigilance Against Anti-emitism said he had been attacked with iron bars.
Police said five youths had been held for questioning, and one police source told Reuters the victim was suffering "serious neurological problems."
The Union of French Jewish Students said Haddad had been identified as Jewish because he was wearing a kippa (skullcap), and had suffered several broken ribs and a fractured skull and was in intensive care at a hospital in central Paris.
"The victim was wearing a kippa and was on his way back home when his attackers, after identifying him as Jewish, started to beat him," the union said.
The number of attackers was not known, varying from 6 or 7 to 30, depending on sources. Haddad's father told French radio RTL there were around 15 attackers.
Two police sources said the attack took place right after a skirmish between two groups of youths, one Jewish and the other of North African origin. They said it was unclear whether Haddad had taken part in the confrontation.
They said such skirmishes were a regular feature in the multi-confessional Buttes Chaumont neighbourhood in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.
The assault was immediately condemned by French President Nicola Sarkozy, who began a three-day visit to Israel on Sunday aimed at reinforcing his image as an ally of the state.
"[Sarkozy] assures the victim and his family of his support and renews his total determination to fight all forms of racism and anti-Semitism," said a statement from Sarkozy's office.
Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie expressed her "profound emotion" and announced in a statement the opening of an investigation to determine the circumstances of the attack.
A 23-year-old French Jew, Ilan Halimi, was found naked, tortured and covered in burns near Paris on February 13, 2006, after being held captive for three weeks. He died on the way to the hospital.
The crime shocked France and raised fears of surging anti-Semitism among French Muslims.
In February of this year, another Jewish teenager was tortured in the same town in which Halimi was killed, in yet another anti-Semitic attack.
----
Jewish teen tortured in French town where Ilan Halimi was killed
By Daniel Ben Simon, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/961212.html
Wed., May 28, 2008 Iyyar 23, 5768
The incident of brutal abuse began at 10 A.M. on February 22. Mathieu Roumi, 19, whose father is Jewish, was strolling through his neighborhood in the Paris suburb of Bagneux, which has been the site of violent riots by immigrants in the past two years. The suburb became notorious as the scene of Ilan Halimi's 2006 murder, which horrified France.
Roumi ran into two youths he knew. They discussed a sum of money that he supposedly owed them. An argument ensued, after which they beat him and, with the help of a third friend, dragged him to a dark basement. The three assailants were joined by three other youths, all neighborhood residents and neighbors of Roumi.
For two hours the attackers tortured the young man. One shoved cigarette butts into his mouth, another took issue with Roumi's Jewish origin, grabbed correction fluid and scrawled "dirty Jew" on his forehead. The six men proceeded to scream at him and threaten that he would die the way Halimi did.
They identified themselves as members of the "Barbarians," the same gang that kidnapped Halimi from his store, demanded ransom for his release, and when that was not forthcoming, tortured the 23-year-old over the course of three weeks. Moments after he was dumped on the street, Halimi died.
Roumi told police investigators that throughout his ordeal, his assailants employed measures with sexual and sadistic connotations. When the issue of his sexual orientation arose, one of them placed a condom on the tip of a stick and shoved it in Roumi's mouth.
"We admire Youssouf Fofana!" they shouted at him, referring to the leader of the gang that murdered Halimi. Fofana and 29 other suspects are on trial for abduction, torture and murder. If convicted, they can expect a life sentence.
Roumi's life was spared because one of the assailants, who owned the basement space, had to leave and take the key with him. Roumi was set free and returned home, battered and broken. When he got to his parent's home, they sent him immediately for a medical examination.
The next day Roumi went to the police. In a matter of hours, the six assailants were arrested. Most are in their 20s, two come from Muslim homes, two are "fully" French, and another two are African and Portuguese immigrants. They told interrogators that they had not meant to hurt Roumi.
Sami Gozlan, a former police investigator appointed by the Jewish community to monitor anti-Semitic incidents, visited the Roumi family the day after the incident.
"The family was in a terrible state," he told Haaretz Wednesday. "The father was weeping like a baby and couldn't believe that such a thing could happen to his son in France. The mother was also deeply upset. They told me that their younger children were forced to stay with relatives outside the neighborhood. Mathieu himself is still in shock."
"Sadly the lesson of Halimi's murder has not been learned," Gozlan added. "The fact that angry immigrant youth can kidnap a Jew in broad daylight and abuse him proves that the lesson has yet to be learned."
Jewish organizations condemned the attack and urged the authorities to increase police vigilance in mixed immigrant neighborhoods, where fear of attacks against Jews runs especially high.
----
Swastika drawn on French Jewish woman in anti-Semitic attack
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/852843.html
Last update - 16:36 27/04/2007
A young Jewish woman was viciously attacked on Thursday by unidentified assailants in a train station in Marseilles. The attack was described by one observer as the "worst anti-Semitic incident in France since the murder of Ilan Halimi" over a year ago.
French police investigating the incident have imposed a gag order on all details of the attack, but David Roche, a Jewish Agency representative in France who is in touch with officials there said the incident is being described as an anti-Semitic attack.
According to details received from Roche, the attack occured in the afternoon when a 22-year-old woman arrived at the metro station of the La Rose district - which has a mixed Muslim and Jewish community.
According to reports, two unidentified men of Middle Eastern appearance approached the woman and began abusing her. At some point, they began hitting her, and one report states that she was dragged by the hair.
When they saw a Star of David on her neck, they lifted her shirt and drew a cross on her abdomen. One of the witnesses said it was a swastika.
The two assailants fled the scene.
In a telephone interview from Paris, Roche told Haaretz that Marseilles police have set up a special investigation squad and are searching the La Rose district.
The young woman gave testimony to the police for many hours, and sources at the Jewish Agency say she was confused and found it difficult to tell her story.
----
Halimi murder sparks increased interest in immigration among French Jews
By Amiram Barkat
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=696519
Last update - 01:40 21/03/2006
The number of French Jews who are looking into the possibility of immigrating to Israel has doubled since the torture-slaying of Ilan Halimi last month. According to David Roche, European general director for the Jewish Agency, since the murder, dozens of French Jews have contacted the Jewish Agency to inquire about immigration.
In 2005, some 3,000 French Jews moved to Israel, compared to 2,400 in 2004.
Jewish Agency chairman Ze'ev Bielski, who is currently visiting Jewish communities in France, met yesterday with Jewish leaders, who told him of their concerns in the aftermath of the murder. Bielski also met with Halimi's mother, Ruth, and offered the Jewish Agency's assistance to her and the rest of the family.
"There is no hysteria among France's Jews," Bielski said, "but there is certainly an upturn in the number of people taking an interest in visiting Israel, as well as in housing and employment.
"The issue of employment is of the most concern," he added.
----
21 charged with kidnap, murder of Jewish man
By Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters , By Daniel Ben-Simon
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/955962.html
Thu., February 21, 2008 Adar1 15, 5768
Twenty-one people will be tried in France for the 2006 kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi, a French Jew, in a trial expected to generate a great deal of interest in the country's Jewish and African communities.
Another seven suspects face trial for failing to report a crime, while one will be tried in a court for children because she was under 16 at the time of the attack on Halimi.
Halimi, 23, was found naked, tortured and covered in burns near Paris on February 13, 2006, after being held captive for three weeks in a crime that shocked France and raised fears of surging anti-Semitism among French Muslims. He died of his injuries soon afterward.
The African community, which gave rise to the self-styled "gang of barbarians" accused of killing Halimi, says the suspects were motivated by money rather than anti-Semitism. The suspects include Muslim immigrants from North Africa, and immigrants from Congo and the Ivory Coast.
The self-proclaimed "brain of the Barbarians," Youssouf Fofana, was eventually arrested in the Ivory Coast. Fofana told police that he led the gang and organized Halimi's kidnapping, but has denied killing him. If he is convicted, he is expected to receive a life sentence.
Fofana and 18 other suspects are in jail pending the trial, which will be heard before a juvenile court because some were youths at the time of the attack. The other suspects have blamed Fofana for the abduction and murder, telling police he recruited them to the gang and that they joined because they didn't have anything better to do.
"We were bored," one of the suspects said.
No trial date was set, and a judicial source said it might not be held until 2009.
Police say the gang attempted to kidnap several Jewish youths before capturing Halimi. They then sent a series of ransom demands to his parents, asking for as much as 450,000 euros, but lengthy negotiations failed to secure his release.
The kidnappers used a pretty young woman - a blonde of Iranian descent - to entice Halimi into a trap, dragging the telephone salesman to a cellar where they proceeded to beat and torment him. Police investigators said the kidnappers acted with indescribable cruelty.
Labels: Anti-Semitic acts, France, French antisemitism, French Jews, Jew-hate
Monday, February 18, 2008
Killers of French Jew arrested
France sends 29 to trial over kidnap and murder of Jewish man
By The Associated Press
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/955527.html
Tue., February 19, 2008 Adar1 13, 5768
French judges are sending 29 people to trial for the torture and killing of a young Jewish man two years ago, judicial authorities said Monday.
The 2006 kidnapping, torture and killing of Ilan Halimi revived concerns about anti-Semitism in France.
Authorities found the 23-year-old naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks near railroad tracks in the Essonne region south of Paris.
He died on the way to the hospital after being held captive for more than three weeks.
Authorities said 21 of the suspects, including alleged ringleader Youssouf Fofana, would be tried by a youth court, because two of them were minors at the time of the killing in February 2006.
Their trial is expected to be held behind closed doors, and is not expected before next year.
Eight others will be tried by other courts.
Chief suspect Fofana, 27, risks life imprisonment. He faces charges of kidnapping and of acts of torture and murder with religious, racial or ethnic motives. He is also accused of five other attempted kidnappings.
Fofana, a Frenchman of Ivorian descent, fled to Ivory Coast and was arrested there and extradited to France.
Halimi, a resident of a Parisian suburb, was lured by a young woman who entered the shop where he worked and persuaded him to meet her in another suburb, where he was kidnapped by a gang of youths, most of them immigrants.
He was laid to rest at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem exactly a year after the murder in a ceremony attended by hundreds of people.
By The Associated Press
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/955527.html
Tue., February 19, 2008 Adar1 13, 5768
French judges are sending 29 people to trial for the torture and killing of a young Jewish man two years ago, judicial authorities said Monday.
The 2006 kidnapping, torture and killing of Ilan Halimi revived concerns about anti-Semitism in France.
Authorities found the 23-year-old naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks near railroad tracks in the Essonne region south of Paris.
He died on the way to the hospital after being held captive for more than three weeks.
Authorities said 21 of the suspects, including alleged ringleader Youssouf Fofana, would be tried by a youth court, because two of them were minors at the time of the killing in February 2006.
Their trial is expected to be held behind closed doors, and is not expected before next year.
Eight others will be tried by other courts.
Chief suspect Fofana, 27, risks life imprisonment. He faces charges of kidnapping and of acts of torture and murder with religious, racial or ethnic motives. He is also accused of five other attempted kidnappings.
Fofana, a Frenchman of Ivorian descent, fled to Ivory Coast and was arrested there and extradited to France.
Halimi, a resident of a Parisian suburb, was lured by a young woman who entered the shop where he worked and persuaded him to meet her in another suburb, where he was kidnapped by a gang of youths, most of them immigrants.
He was laid to rest at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem exactly a year after the murder in a ceremony attended by hundreds of people.
Labels: Anti-Semitic acts, Anti-Semitism, France, French Jews, Justice, Torture
Friday, April 27, 2007
They lifted her shirt and drew a cross on her abdomen
Swastika daubed on French Jewish woman in anti-Semitic attack
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/852843.html
Fri., April 27, 2007 Iyyar 9, 5767
A young Jewish woman was viciously attacked on Thursday by unidentified assailants in a train station in Marseilles. The attack was described by one observer as the "worst anti-Semitic incident in France since the murder of Ilan Halimi" over a year ago.
French police investigating the incident have imposed a gag order on all details of the attack, but David Roche, a Jewish Agency representative in France who is in touch with officials there said the incident is being described as an anti-Semitic attack.
According to details received from Roche, the attack occured in the afternoon when a 22-year-old woman arrived at the metro station of the La Rose district - which has a mixed Muslim and Jewish community.
According to reports, two unidentified men of Middle Eastern appearance approached the woman and began abusing her. At some point, they began hitting her, and one report states that she was dragged by the hair.
When they saw a Star of David on her neck, they lifted her shirt and drew a cross on her abdomen. One of the witnesses said it was a swastika.
The two assailants fled the scene.
In a telephone interview from Paris, Roche told Haaretz that Marseilles police have set up a special investigation squad and are searching the La Rose district.
The young woman gave testimony to the police for many hours, and sources at the Jewish Agency say she was confused and found it difficult to tell her story.
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/852843.html
Fri., April 27, 2007 Iyyar 9, 5767
A young Jewish woman was viciously attacked on Thursday by unidentified assailants in a train station in Marseilles. The attack was described by one observer as the "worst anti-Semitic incident in France since the murder of Ilan Halimi" over a year ago.
French police investigating the incident have imposed a gag order on all details of the attack, but David Roche, a Jewish Agency representative in France who is in touch with officials there said the incident is being described as an anti-Semitic attack.
According to details received from Roche, the attack occured in the afternoon when a 22-year-old woman arrived at the metro station of the La Rose district - which has a mixed Muslim and Jewish community.
According to reports, two unidentified men of Middle Eastern appearance approached the woman and began abusing her. At some point, they began hitting her, and one report states that she was dragged by the hair.
When they saw a Star of David on her neck, they lifted her shirt and drew a cross on her abdomen. One of the witnesses said it was a swastika.
The two assailants fled the scene.
In a telephone interview from Paris, Roche told Haaretz that Marseilles police have set up a special investigation squad and are searching the La Rose district.
The young woman gave testimony to the police for many hours, and sources at the Jewish Agency say she was confused and found it difficult to tell her story.
Labels: Abuse, Anti-Semitic acts, French Jews
Friday, February 24, 2006
French Jew murdered by Anti-Semites
Chirac, de Villepin attend memorial ceremony for slain Jewish youth
By Goel Pinto
http://www.haaretz.com/
Fri., February 24, 2006 Shvat 26, 5766
"PARIS - Cries of "vive la France" and "la justice" accompanied President Jacques Chirac, his wife Bernadette and Premier Dominique de Villepin last night as they left the memorial evening held here yesterday for Ilan Halimi.
The ceremony, which was held in the Grand Synagogue on rue de la Victoire, was seen by many in the Jewish community as the state leaders' formal declaration that anti-Semitism was to blame for the horrific kidnapping, torture and murder of the 23-year-old Parisian.
At 5 P.M., two hours before the ceremony's official opening, police cars surrounded the synagogue area. Police at roadblocks inspected the bag of everyone who entered the area. Hundreds of thousands of people crowded on either side of the street, waiting their turn to enter the synagogue. At the synagogue's entrance police used metal detectors and checked the identity cards and passports of all who pushed in.
The synagogue's 3,000 seats were full, dozens more mourners stood in the aisles and many thousands remained outside and could not get in.
During the chilling ceremony, an 8-year-old read the Psalm "I will raise my eyes to the mountains, whence will come my help?" near a giant picture of Halimi.
Halimi's family and others in the Jewish community said that had the authorities admitted earlier that the young man had been attacked for being a Jew, he could possibly have been saved.
Halimi was found dying, covered with burns and cuts, on Monday February 13. He had been kidnapped three weeks earlier, after a Muslim gang sent a blonde to seduce him. Halimi had agreed to meet with her after meeting in a chat room. Immediately after his abduction his mother went to the police, saying he was kidnapped by anti-Semites. Sources in the community said three Jewish youngsters had managed to escape similar abdications in recent months.
The police told Halimi's mother, Ruth, to stop all telephone connection with the kidnappers, as a way of forcing them to use electronic mail, which was traceable.
The police did not know that during the five days in which the kidnappers tried in vain to contact Halimi's family, Halimi suffered terrible torture. One of the kidnappers said, "We put our cigarettes out on him because he was a Jew."
A few days after Halimi was found, the Paris public prosecutor, Jean-Claude Marin, told the media that the murder was a criminal event, and "no element of the current investigation could link this murder to an anti-Semitic declaration or action."
The reports about Halimi in France did not mention that he was Jewish. Halimi's family was livid. His mother accused the authorities of ignoring the anti-Semitic factor. "Had Ilan not been Jewish, he would not have been murdered," she said. She was widely quoted in the French media, and the authorities began to retreat.
On Tuesday French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said that "the murder had anti-Semitic motives." "They kidnapped and murdered him because he was Jewish - in their words, the Jews have money," he said.
This coming Sunday a huge procession in his memory is scheduled to take place in Paris. Jewish organizations, French political parties and anti-violence groups are to join in the demonstration.
Assaf Uni also contributed to this report."
----
The grisly murder of Ilan Halimi should concern the entire Jewish world.
From aish.com
http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/The_Halimi_Murder.asp
29 Shevat 5766 / 27 February 2006
"The highest echelons of the French government -- led by President Jacques Chirac and Premier Dominique DeVillepin -- went out of their way Thursday night to express sympathy and solidarity with their country's Jews, following the torture and murder of Ilan Halimi. Their attendance of memorial services at Paris's Victoire Synagogue for the 23-year-old victim constituted the most unequivocal and authoritative admission that Halimi fell prey to a horrid hate crime.
The knee-jerk inclination of French officialdom, however, was refusal to categorize this as an anti-Semitic homicide. Initially there even was reluctance to note the Jewish identity of the victim.
The discovery of the dying Halimi near rail tracks in the Paris suburb of St. Genevieve on February 13 sent shock waves throughout France. The cell phone salesman was found handcuffed, gagged, battered, slashed and with burns over most of his naked body. He had obviously been tortured to death.
The interrogation of the since-apprehended gang, which abducted and then for three weeks held Halimi for ransom -- before, as French police report, dousing him with flammable liquid and setting him alight -- indicated that greed wasn't the sole motive.
A pretty young woman lured Halimi from the store in which he was employed. He was kept naked, bound and hooded, subjected throughout to gruesome torments. The kidnappers, who demanded ransom, were told that the family was far from wealthy. They replied that funds be elicited "from the synagogue," because "all Jews are rich." The French-Arab and African-Muslim ringleaders also recited verses from the Koran in their communications with the family.
French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that the perpetrators "were convinced that 'Jews have money'... That's called anti-Semitism by conflation." He added that four of six persons the same gang attempted to capture were also Jews.
Sarkozy revealed that some suspects possessed extreme Islamic and pro-Palestinian literature and documents. What they confessed to the police further confirmed the apprehension that Halimi was subjected to barbaric abuse because he was a Jew.
The grisly attack came at a time in which some French higher-ups boasted that they had beaten back the anti-Semitic tide that accompanied the 2000 intifada. Indeed the French government oversaw a dramatic drop in anti-Jewish incidents. Reportedly the number of anti-Semitic assaults in France for 2005 is 47% below that of 2004. In this respect the French approach and record is better than that of other European states.
But this clearly isn't the whole story. Physical attacks are only one expression of the distress experienced by French Jews, many of whom live in close proximity to Muslim immigrants (estimated at 12% of the population). Jewish children in public schools are frequently bullied by Arab classmates. It's almost impossible to teach the Holocaust in schools with large Arab/Muslim student bodies.
In certain urban French neighborhoods it's risky for Jews to wear skullcaps. Many French Muslims regard local Jews, their houses of worship and communal institutions fair game in their attempts to wreak vengeance on Israel. This indeed is something for Israelis to ponder. The Jewish state's enemies often consider all Jews legitimate targets, as the 1994 blast in Buenos Aires's AMIA Jewish Community Center (which claimed 86 lives) demonstrated on a tragic scale.
France was late in combating the "collective punishment" meted by some Muslims on their Jewish neighbors. It first turned a blind eye to numerous anti-Semitic outbreaks, insisting that "there is no anti-Semitism in France." Jews were essentially requested not to bother the authorities.
Official downplaying of rampant anti-Semitism between 2000-2003 left deep emotional scars in the Jewish community. The Halimi murder and the initial disinclination to treat it as a hate crime reopened many old wounds. DeVillepin promised "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" about the crime that alarmed France's Jews. He will have to convince them, but not only them.
Anti-Semitism in Paris isn't just an internal French matter. It should concern all of us in the Jewish state. We mustn't be wary of speaking up lest we offend French sensibilities. Ariel Sharon didn't shrink a few years back from calling on French Jews to make aliya. Our government's concern over the Halimi murder should be conveyed directly to the French government at the highest levels, and our solidarity more emphatically shown with the embattled French Jewish community.
Reprinted with permission from the Jerusalem Post."
----
Tens of thousands march in Paris to protest Halimi murder
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/687303.html
Tue., February 28, 2006 Shvat 30, 5766
Tens of thousands of people marched through Paris yesterday in memory of Ilan Halimi, who was kidnapped, tortured and killed two weeks ago in an attack that authorities say was partly motivated by anti-Semitism.
Police sources said Sunday that they believe the gang that kidnapped Halimi had actually decided to release him, but murdered him instead because he accidentally glimpsed some of their faces.
Numerous French politicians joined the march, which was organized by the local Jewish community, including Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and Francois Hollande, the head of France's Socialist Party. Leaders of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities marched side by side. Organizers estimated that 100,000 people participated in the demonstration, but police put the number at 30,000.
There were no speeches during the march, but demonstrators carried signs denouncing racism and anti-Semitism.
The organizers had decided against inviting Jean-Marie Le Pen, the head of the far-right National Front party, to participate in the demonstration, due to sharp opposition from leftist organizations and human rights groups. Philippe de Villiers, the head of another far-right party, the Movement for France (known by its French initials MPF), did try to attend, but he was greeted with cries of "racist" and removed by the guards.
Roger Cukierman, who heads the umbrella organization of France's Jewish community, CRIF, expressed satisfaction with the results of the rally.
"It's important for French society to recognize that small racist and anti-Semitic prejudices can have terrible and dreadful consequences," he said in an interview with Radio Europe 1.
Pierre Besnainou, the president of the European Jewish Congress and another leading member of the French Jewish community, expressed similar satisfaction.
"We invited all the democratic forces in France," he told Haaretz, adding that he attributed particular importance to the fact that so many non-Jews participated in the march. "What is important to us is to send the message that an injury to a Jewish citizen of France is an injury to all of France."
Thousands of people also attended smaller demonstrations in Nice, Lyon and other major French cities Sunday. In addition, some 200 people attended a solidarity demonstration in Jerusalem, organized by the Association of French Immigrants.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that Halimi's murder "proves that anti-Semitism is not just an issue for the Jewish people and for Israel; it also affects the society in which it exists."
The French police have thus far arrested 12 suspects in Halimi's murder, and France is preparing to request the extradition of the gang's suspected ringleader, Youssouf Fofana, from Ivory Coast, where he was arrested last week. A 14th suspect is still at large.
----
French Murder Victim Re-Buried in Jerusalem.
Hundreds attend reinterment of murdered French Jew
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/823844.html
Fri., February 09, 2007 Shvat 21, 5767
Hundreds of people participated in a reinterment ceremony in Jerusalem for Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old French Jew kidnapped and fatally tortured by a gang last year.
Halimi was laid to rest at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem.
When Halimi's kidnappers were arrested, they told French police they had selected a Jewish victim because they believed Jews are wealthy.
The decision to reinter Halimi in Israel was made by his mother Ruth, following a conversation with Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielsky.
The funeral will be held on the anniversary of his murder, according to the Hebrew date. His mother and two sisters will attend, as well as Absorption Minister Zeev Boim, Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and the Chief Rabbi of France, Yosef Sitruk, as well as senior officials of Jewish organizations in Europe and the U.S. and from the Jewish Agency.
France will be represented by French Ambassador to Israel Jean-Michel Casa.
Halimi, a resident of a Parisian suburb, was lured by a young woman who entered the shop where he worked and persuaded him to meet her in another suburb, where he was kidnapped by a gang of youths, most of them immigrants. The abductors held Halimi hostage for three days and tortured him.
Once the kidnappers concluded that the victim's parents were unable to pay the ransom they demanded, they dumped Halimi, who was found but died of his wounds on his way to hospital.
The case shocked the 500,000-strong Jewish community in France and the general public.
By Goel Pinto
http://www.haaretz.com/
Fri., February 24, 2006 Shvat 26, 5766
"PARIS - Cries of "vive la France" and "la justice" accompanied President Jacques Chirac, his wife Bernadette and Premier Dominique de Villepin last night as they left the memorial evening held here yesterday for Ilan Halimi.
The ceremony, which was held in the Grand Synagogue on rue de la Victoire, was seen by many in the Jewish community as the state leaders' formal declaration that anti-Semitism was to blame for the horrific kidnapping, torture and murder of the 23-year-old Parisian.
At 5 P.M., two hours before the ceremony's official opening, police cars surrounded the synagogue area. Police at roadblocks inspected the bag of everyone who entered the area. Hundreds of thousands of people crowded on either side of the street, waiting their turn to enter the synagogue. At the synagogue's entrance police used metal detectors and checked the identity cards and passports of all who pushed in.
The synagogue's 3,000 seats were full, dozens more mourners stood in the aisles and many thousands remained outside and could not get in.
During the chilling ceremony, an 8-year-old read the Psalm "I will raise my eyes to the mountains, whence will come my help?" near a giant picture of Halimi.
Halimi's family and others in the Jewish community said that had the authorities admitted earlier that the young man had been attacked for being a Jew, he could possibly have been saved.
Halimi was found dying, covered with burns and cuts, on Monday February 13. He had been kidnapped three weeks earlier, after a Muslim gang sent a blonde to seduce him. Halimi had agreed to meet with her after meeting in a chat room. Immediately after his abduction his mother went to the police, saying he was kidnapped by anti-Semites. Sources in the community said three Jewish youngsters had managed to escape similar abdications in recent months.
The police told Halimi's mother, Ruth, to stop all telephone connection with the kidnappers, as a way of forcing them to use electronic mail, which was traceable.
The police did not know that during the five days in which the kidnappers tried in vain to contact Halimi's family, Halimi suffered terrible torture. One of the kidnappers said, "We put our cigarettes out on him because he was a Jew."
A few days after Halimi was found, the Paris public prosecutor, Jean-Claude Marin, told the media that the murder was a criminal event, and "no element of the current investigation could link this murder to an anti-Semitic declaration or action."
The reports about Halimi in France did not mention that he was Jewish. Halimi's family was livid. His mother accused the authorities of ignoring the anti-Semitic factor. "Had Ilan not been Jewish, he would not have been murdered," she said. She was widely quoted in the French media, and the authorities began to retreat.
On Tuesday French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said that "the murder had anti-Semitic motives." "They kidnapped and murdered him because he was Jewish - in their words, the Jews have money," he said.
This coming Sunday a huge procession in his memory is scheduled to take place in Paris. Jewish organizations, French political parties and anti-violence groups are to join in the demonstration.
Assaf Uni also contributed to this report."
----
The grisly murder of Ilan Halimi should concern the entire Jewish world.
From aish.com
http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/The_Halimi_Murder.asp
29 Shevat 5766 / 27 February 2006
"The highest echelons of the French government -- led by President Jacques Chirac and Premier Dominique DeVillepin -- went out of their way Thursday night to express sympathy and solidarity with their country's Jews, following the torture and murder of Ilan Halimi. Their attendance of memorial services at Paris's Victoire Synagogue for the 23-year-old victim constituted the most unequivocal and authoritative admission that Halimi fell prey to a horrid hate crime.
The knee-jerk inclination of French officialdom, however, was refusal to categorize this as an anti-Semitic homicide. Initially there even was reluctance to note the Jewish identity of the victim.
The discovery of the dying Halimi near rail tracks in the Paris suburb of St. Genevieve on February 13 sent shock waves throughout France. The cell phone salesman was found handcuffed, gagged, battered, slashed and with burns over most of his naked body. He had obviously been tortured to death.
The interrogation of the since-apprehended gang, which abducted and then for three weeks held Halimi for ransom -- before, as French police report, dousing him with flammable liquid and setting him alight -- indicated that greed wasn't the sole motive.
A pretty young woman lured Halimi from the store in which he was employed. He was kept naked, bound and hooded, subjected throughout to gruesome torments. The kidnappers, who demanded ransom, were told that the family was far from wealthy. They replied that funds be elicited "from the synagogue," because "all Jews are rich." The French-Arab and African-Muslim ringleaders also recited verses from the Koran in their communications with the family.
French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that the perpetrators "were convinced that 'Jews have money'... That's called anti-Semitism by conflation." He added that four of six persons the same gang attempted to capture were also Jews.
Sarkozy revealed that some suspects possessed extreme Islamic and pro-Palestinian literature and documents. What they confessed to the police further confirmed the apprehension that Halimi was subjected to barbaric abuse because he was a Jew.
The grisly attack came at a time in which some French higher-ups boasted that they had beaten back the anti-Semitic tide that accompanied the 2000 intifada. Indeed the French government oversaw a dramatic drop in anti-Jewish incidents. Reportedly the number of anti-Semitic assaults in France for 2005 is 47% below that of 2004. In this respect the French approach and record is better than that of other European states.
But this clearly isn't the whole story. Physical attacks are only one expression of the distress experienced by French Jews, many of whom live in close proximity to Muslim immigrants (estimated at 12% of the population). Jewish children in public schools are frequently bullied by Arab classmates. It's almost impossible to teach the Holocaust in schools with large Arab/Muslim student bodies.
In certain urban French neighborhoods it's risky for Jews to wear skullcaps. Many French Muslims regard local Jews, their houses of worship and communal institutions fair game in their attempts to wreak vengeance on Israel. This indeed is something for Israelis to ponder. The Jewish state's enemies often consider all Jews legitimate targets, as the 1994 blast in Buenos Aires's AMIA Jewish Community Center (which claimed 86 lives) demonstrated on a tragic scale.
France was late in combating the "collective punishment" meted by some Muslims on their Jewish neighbors. It first turned a blind eye to numerous anti-Semitic outbreaks, insisting that "there is no anti-Semitism in France." Jews were essentially requested not to bother the authorities.
Official downplaying of rampant anti-Semitism between 2000-2003 left deep emotional scars in the Jewish community. The Halimi murder and the initial disinclination to treat it as a hate crime reopened many old wounds. DeVillepin promised "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" about the crime that alarmed France's Jews. He will have to convince them, but not only them.
Anti-Semitism in Paris isn't just an internal French matter. It should concern all of us in the Jewish state. We mustn't be wary of speaking up lest we offend French sensibilities. Ariel Sharon didn't shrink a few years back from calling on French Jews to make aliya. Our government's concern over the Halimi murder should be conveyed directly to the French government at the highest levels, and our solidarity more emphatically shown with the embattled French Jewish community.
Reprinted with permission from the Jerusalem Post."
----
Tens of thousands march in Paris to protest Halimi murder
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/687303.html
Tue., February 28, 2006 Shvat 30, 5766
Tens of thousands of people marched through Paris yesterday in memory of Ilan Halimi, who was kidnapped, tortured and killed two weeks ago in an attack that authorities say was partly motivated by anti-Semitism.
Police sources said Sunday that they believe the gang that kidnapped Halimi had actually decided to release him, but murdered him instead because he accidentally glimpsed some of their faces.
Numerous French politicians joined the march, which was organized by the local Jewish community, including Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and Francois Hollande, the head of France's Socialist Party. Leaders of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities marched side by side. Organizers estimated that 100,000 people participated in the demonstration, but police put the number at 30,000.
There were no speeches during the march, but demonstrators carried signs denouncing racism and anti-Semitism.
The organizers had decided against inviting Jean-Marie Le Pen, the head of the far-right National Front party, to participate in the demonstration, due to sharp opposition from leftist organizations and human rights groups. Philippe de Villiers, the head of another far-right party, the Movement for France (known by its French initials MPF), did try to attend, but he was greeted with cries of "racist" and removed by the guards.
Roger Cukierman, who heads the umbrella organization of France's Jewish community, CRIF, expressed satisfaction with the results of the rally.
"It's important for French society to recognize that small racist and anti-Semitic prejudices can have terrible and dreadful consequences," he said in an interview with Radio Europe 1.
Pierre Besnainou, the president of the European Jewish Congress and another leading member of the French Jewish community, expressed similar satisfaction.
"We invited all the democratic forces in France," he told Haaretz, adding that he attributed particular importance to the fact that so many non-Jews participated in the march. "What is important to us is to send the message that an injury to a Jewish citizen of France is an injury to all of France."
Thousands of people also attended smaller demonstrations in Nice, Lyon and other major French cities Sunday. In addition, some 200 people attended a solidarity demonstration in Jerusalem, organized by the Association of French Immigrants.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that Halimi's murder "proves that anti-Semitism is not just an issue for the Jewish people and for Israel; it also affects the society in which it exists."
The French police have thus far arrested 12 suspects in Halimi's murder, and France is preparing to request the extradition of the gang's suspected ringleader, Youssouf Fofana, from Ivory Coast, where he was arrested last week. A 14th suspect is still at large.
----
French Murder Victim Re-Buried in Jerusalem.
Hundreds attend reinterment of murdered French Jew
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/823844.html
Fri., February 09, 2007 Shvat 21, 5767
Hundreds of people participated in a reinterment ceremony in Jerusalem for Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old French Jew kidnapped and fatally tortured by a gang last year.
Halimi was laid to rest at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem.
When Halimi's kidnappers were arrested, they told French police they had selected a Jewish victim because they believed Jews are wealthy.
The decision to reinter Halimi in Israel was made by his mother Ruth, following a conversation with Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielsky.
The funeral will be held on the anniversary of his murder, according to the Hebrew date. His mother and two sisters will attend, as well as Absorption Minister Zeev Boim, Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and the Chief Rabbi of France, Yosef Sitruk, as well as senior officials of Jewish organizations in Europe and the U.S. and from the Jewish Agency.
France will be represented by French Ambassador to Israel Jean-Michel Casa.
Halimi, a resident of a Parisian suburb, was lured by a young woman who entered the shop where he worked and persuaded him to meet her in another suburb, where he was kidnapped by a gang of youths, most of them immigrants. The abductors held Halimi hostage for three days and tortured him.
Once the kidnappers concluded that the victim's parents were unable to pay the ransom they demanded, they dumped Halimi, who was found but died of his wounds on his way to hospital.
The case shocked the 500,000-strong Jewish community in France and the general public.
Labels: French Jews, murder, Sephardi Jews
