France's Jews
You might think that after all this time, after all the anguish, the lost lives, the world's guilt, that Jews would be able to live normal lives unblemished by constant worries about the effects of anti-Semitism. How long does one group of people have to face being the world's scapegoat? Why does the finger of blame get pointed unfailingly at Jews? For a relatively tight group of people, population-wise, Jews have given so much to the world, in science, the arts, the humanities. We could live happily without the kind of recognition that equates Jews with world domination. Jews experience more than enough difficulties trying to control their own lives, why does a demented world believe Jews could possibly be interested in dominating the lives of others?Why, after having paid such a dreadful penalty for existence in the 20th century should we be faced yet again with the spectre of growing anti-Semitism? The very absurdity of some of the claims attributed to a Jewish worldwide conspiracy would be laughable if it were not so deadly. Having suffered so much over aeons of world civilizations where the Jew has been the outcast, the object of derision of suspicion, when will it be enough?
Have we not built upon the knowledge that human activities have accumulated? Are we not intelligent beings? Can we not distinguish the brutally fanciful from the practical reality? Obviously not. For whatever strides mankind has made in building upon the inventiveness of civilization after civilization the human brain and all of its frailties remains static, undeveloped.
It is such a mystery that a small segment of any population can be intelligent, philosophical, well-meaning enough to strive for a balanced way of life for everyone, while the larger balance of that same population remains disinterested in anything but their own perceived immediate needs. And when those 'needs' are not met, jealousy, aggression and a brutal disdain for the 'other' becomes a demonstrable habit.
Take, for example, France. The country which smugly puts itself front-and-centre as the epitome of tolerance, egalitarianism, broad intelligence. Yes, this is a cultured society, justly famed for its contributions in areas of human endeavour. In the first quarter of the last century Germany and Austria also were recognized for those same attributes. In all of those countries there has been a long tradition of genteel anti-Semitism. This was a trait which became submerged in public shame after World War II, but it surfaces from time to time, loathe to bury its ugly head for good.
Jews have lived in France, as indeed they have lived elsewhere in Europe for millennia. That's a long time in human societal evolution, more than ample time to be accepted as a valuable segment of any society, for Jews have proved their value to society time and again throughout the ages. Although Jews have not assimilated en masse in any society with which they have aligned themselves, they have considered themselves a vital part of that society, utterly loyal to the society and they have focussed on being of value within the society. A French Jew is by his/her very nature and nurture, a French citizen as thoroughly as any Francophone within France.
There are currently a half million Jews living in Paris who consider themselves to be completely and without question French citizens to the core. Among them are wealthy people with prestigious reputations in the arts, sciences, banking, business ventures. Among them also are a far greater number who live a middle-class existence, along with those who live a life of penury. All Jews. All French Jews. All reflecting in their diversity French society at large. But of late French Jews have been forced to become discreet Jews. No symbols of Judaism can be worn, no symbols can adorn buildings, lest they be singled out. Jewish children are being beaten, Jewish schools, synagogues, cemeteries are defaced, torched, destroyed. Jewish families recall the Holocaust and can scarcely believe this can be happening - again.
Within French society there exists now a large number of unassimilated immigrants from Muslim countries; some 10% of the entire population. Almost universally these immigrants live degraded lives of benign neglect and impoverishment. Substandard living conditions, substandard schools, substandard medical attention, no discernible standard of aspirations to a better lifestyle is held out to these forgotten masses. They fester in a degraded lifestyle, reminiscent of those they left behind in hopes of a better future for themselves, for their children. Resentment is understandably high, bitterness is the lingua franca of their existence. Complaints, if they are put forward, are obviously not addressed with a view to amelioration of such an untenable social situation. France is too comfortable for those who live the life of the status quo.
But, there is always a scapegoat. Always a group whose presence rankles, whose attributes, imagined or real exist as a goad to those whose lives are truly miserable, with no hope for a better one in sight. Muslim youth, born to a France which sees no value in them for its future, focus the fury of their pointless existence on the Jews who seem to them to have found success, to have succeeded in this country where their parents and they seem to have failed. The Jews were accepted, became part of the life of the country, and they have been shunted aside, with no future holding out hope for a better life for them. So they strike, and they strike again, and the French authorities, if they take notice at all, appear completely witless about a solution.
When Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel visited France in the summer of 2005, he 'invited' French Jews to come to Israel, to settle there, that the Jewish State would welcome them. Jacques Chirac, the French Prime Minister, bristled and demanded an apology. French Jews, he asserted, are French, this was their country and here they would stay. Would that it could be so. France will all too soon be witnessing a mass exodus, and that country will be the poorer for it. And Jews elsewhere? They shudder, they fear, they anticipate more of the same.
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, November 22, 2005
<< Home