France's Two Solitudes
"[Great courage was displayed by the police officer for the use of his service weapon against the] particularly dangerous, particularly violent [assailant who rushed at him with a knife]. He was right to do so [shoot the man].""[The 25-year-old officer would be decorated for his] extremely courageous, extremely professional [behaviour].""This antisemitic act in Rouen affects all of us, deeply. France is [extremely determined to continue protecting all the Jews of France, wherever they are, who must practice their religion without fear."French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin"It's unbearable. It's more and more serious every day. After the antisemitic graffiti we saw in the past few days, antisemitic slogans antisemitic insults, we now have attempts at setting synagogues on fire.""Everyone is wondering whether they can live a peaceful life in France as a Jew.""There's a climate of fear because it feels like, anywhere in our country and at any time, an antisemitic attack can take place.""It aims at intimidating French Jews and we won't accept this intimidation."Jonathan Arfi, president, Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France
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| Rabbi Shmouel Lubecki said it was important for Jews not to let antisemites win CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock |
A man armed with a knife and metal bar was lethally shot by French police after he started a fire on Friday that burned the interior of a synagogue in Rouen, in an attack classified as "clearly" antisemitic. A surge of hate crimes have occurred following the conflict in Gaza which began when the terrorist group Hamas that rules Gaza broke through the barrier on the border between Israel and Gaza on a well-planned mission to raid nearby border villages and kibbutzim to terrify the residents, burn their homes, rape girls and women, mutilating and murdering them, along with some 1,200 in number of men, women and children.
Israel's response was what any other sovereign country would do; invade Gaza for the very specific purpose of de-militarizing Hamas, destroying their arms, their vast network of tunnels that serve as embarkation points for Hamas operatives, weapons storage sites, and protective shields for the terrorists who launch rockets from the tunnel sites. More latterly, the tunnels were used as prisons for the 250 Israeli hostages that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PLFP [Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine] and ordinary civilian Palestinians who joined the orgy of killing and who had taken Israelis as prisoners back to Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces' commitment in being charged with destroying Hamas's capacity to continue attacking Israel, their determination to eradicate Hamas's fighting capability, to engage in battle with Hamas operatives and their commanders, to take their lives to ensure they can no longer campaign violently against Israel and its citizens have enraged the world's Muslim communities who have taken to calling Israel's response to the massacre enacted in Israel, a 'genocide'; a popular word often used by jihadists to demonize Israel in an ironic twist of history and reality.
The arsonist was a 29-year-old migrant from Algeria whom France's security agents had felt no reason to flag as a suspected extremist. He had sought status as a permanent resident in France ostensibly for medical treatment, but had been refused and had been placed on a police wanted list for potential return to his country of origin. France is notable among European countries with both Jewish and Muslim citizens in that it hosts the largest such populations in Western Europe. Jews have been present in France for a millennium. They integrate themselves culturally within France, sharing its common values.
The Muslim presence in France is of like duration and noted for the banlieues which effectively separate the greater Muslim presence from that of France. These are areas that are crowded, underprivileged and hostile to French culture and values. They are crime-ridden clusters of extremists which present a danger to non-Muslims who might seek entry there. Notoriously, French police and fire-fighters find themselves in danger on entering the banlieues to pursue their professional duties, making them off-limit.
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| Firemen stand in front the synagogue in Rouen after police killed a man armed with a knife and a metal bar who was suspected of having set the fire, Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Schaeffer) |
Antisemitism, never absent in France, is hugely boosted by the presence of its large Muslim population, threatening the security and safety of French Jews. Since October 7, incidents of viral antisemitism have increased in number and ferocity. A French Jewish umbrella group interpreted the blaze at the Normandy city of Rouen's synagogue as "a scandalous message, a way of saying that Jews don't belong in French Society". But it has become a universal Muslim/Arab message in the West even as Jews who live in North America are told to "go back to Europe".
A Paris memorial to honour French non-Jews under the Vichy government during World War II was desecrated this week for their wartime courage in the hundreds who endangered themselves and their families, in giving aid to the rescue of French Jews during the Nazi occupation. The monument was defaced with red-painted 'bloody' hands. Then on Friday, firefighters attended the synagogue blaze.
The Algerian national was found by attending firefighters, standing on the synagogue's roof, iron bar in one hand, kitchen knife in the other, with smoke rising from the windows of the synagogue that he had set on fire. When he threatened the police officer, he effectively consigned himself to death.
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| Police scoured the roof of the synagogue for evidence hours after the attack Gonzales Fuente, Reuters |
Labels: Antsemitism, Barbarous Hamas terrorism in Israel, France, Gaza Lashback, Large Jewish and Muslim populations
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, May 19, 2024
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