The evil of anti-Semitism was just waiting to be unleashed
Opinion: I do not believe that France itself harbors hatred of Jews, but there has been an awakening of the extreme right; these extremists have infiltrated the yellow vest protesters, who do not know how to spot them.
The favored first sentence of Jew-haters is always "I'm not anti-Semitic, but...." When I hear that, I know that what follows will be horrific.
I don't think, even for one minute, that France is an anti-Semitic country. I think it is currently experiencing an identity crisis, and it is important not to conflate, even amidst all the fear and the despair, the social justice protesters with those who spread hatred of Jews. But in the current situation, the extreme right has awakened, infiltrated the demonstrators and is manipulating the masses.
The generation that underwent the nightmare of World War II knew how to defend themselves from such manipulation, but this is a disappearing generation. I myself can spot behavior typical of the extreme right from 300 miles away, but today's young people have not previously experienced this political culture and are unable to read the signs correctly.
The cumulative wave of anti-Semitism of the past three months has compelled me to write this. This sentiment was reinforced by the sight of the anti-Semitic graffiti sprayed on a Paris bagel shop, but to me the worst thing happened a week ago at the Great Synagogue in Strasbourg, during a yellow vest protest.
For three months now, there have been very public fantasies about the "power of the Rothschilds" and the notion that " Zionists are secretly pulling the strings in politics." But on Shabbat, as they left after the service, Great Synagogue congregants were met with shouts of "dirty Jews" and some were even afraid to step foot outside the building. When I saw that someone urinated against the wall of the synagogue, I told myself that we had reached the point of moving from talk to action. There are moments when you feel that this sentiment has just been waiting to be unleashed.
I could make the extreme right both in France and in Israel happy, and say that Jews belong in Israel. I do admire Israel and love to visit, but I am French, and I believe that Jews belong wherever they want.
(Sometimes, as a joke, I say that the Jews arrived in France in 200 CE, some 500 years before the ancestors of Jean-Marie Le Pen.)
I cannot remember exactly who said, but I am fond of a quote that originated in Communist Bundist circles in Odessa: "Judaism is but one track in the European polyphony." This is the idea that Judaism is a cultural path, beyond religion, and that it has a place in Europe.
It is a terrible thing to be so in love with Europe at a time when so many voices tell us that Jews do not belong there.
The writer is a writer, illustrator and filmmaker
