Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumHundreds of Israel-Bound Jews Say Adieu to France
Hundreds of soon-to-be immigrants to Israel gathered at one of the French capitals largest synagogues for a sendoff ceremony celebrating their departure.
Some 700 people attended the ceremony Wednesday at the Synagogue de Tournelles, which began with a moment of silence in memory of Naftali Fraenkel, Eyal Yifrach and Gilad Shaar, the Israeli teenagers whose bodies were discovered Monday near Hebron. They were kidnapped and killed on June 12.
Immigration levels from France are at record levels, which Jewish Agency officials attribute to the communitys strong emotional attachment to Israel, rising levels of anti-Semitism and a stagnant economy in France.
Many of the new immigrants cited anti-Semitism, which has increased in frequency since the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada in the early 2000s.
http://m.forward.com/articles/201257/hundreds-of-israel-bound-jews-say-adieu-to-france/
King_David
(14,851 posts)The reason the Jewish state was created.
Strong Jews now since 1948.
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)seemingly has become a beliggerant country.
BDS
shaayecanaan
(6,068 posts)from the last time that it was posted:-
There are more than 5 million Jews in America and about half a million in France, yet aliyah from France may surpass American aliyah Roger Cukierman, president of the CRIF umbrella body of French Jewish communities, acknowledges the discomfort of French Jews but insists that aliyah does not amount to an exodus.
It is still within the normal spectrum of 1,500 to about 3,000, Cukierman says.
Yeshaya Dalsace, a well-known Conservative rabbi from Paris, is more outspoken.
Its a total exaggeration, Dalsace says. There is a worrying reality, but by and large Jews are leaving for the same reasons other Frenchmen are leaving.
Frenchmen, especially the young, are indeed leaving, according to a Le Figaro report this week showing the number of French citizens under 35 seeking work in Canada and Australia jumped by about 10 percent over 2012.
Sociologists attribute this to the recession in France, which this year registered a growth rate of nearly zero. Among professionals under 24, the unemployment rate stands at 24 percent. These and other factors led Standard & Poors to lower Frances credit last month, the second cut this year.
All this is felt on the ground in the French capital, where luxury businesses are closing down and many once-popular cafes are trying to lure clients with discounts and what some are calling crisis menus.
Ive been cursed at at the metro a few times because I wear a kippah, but so what, says Olivier Cohen, a university graduate in his 20s who wants to move to Israel. Look around , there is no movement, no prospects, no jobs. I want to go a dynamic environment.
To Cohen, life in Paris provides a stark contrast with Israel, where despite lower median incomes than in France, the projected economic growth rate of 3.8 percent is more than triple the average among countries in the Organization for for Cooperation and Economic Development, according to OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria.
and before that:-
Several points are being overlooked here which makes this more than just a case for naked anti-Semitism.
1) Is that the majority of French Jews and French Muslims came from Algeria and North Africa during the 1960's and essentially live in adjoining neighborhoods.
2) Statistics have shown that until the past few years, attacks on Jews have steadily decreased to historically low levels. And while there has been an increase, most have been caused by an increase in friction between French Jews and French Muslims generally resulting from the Israeli/Palestine situation.
3) If anything, France is having a greater problem dealing with anti-Muslim behavior principally driven by the large and persistant cultural separation between the Muslim community and the secular French community. Hate attacks against Muslims have been far greater and much more violent. Hatred has also been prominanently featured in material handed out by LePen supporters. Most of the outcry against the new laws trying to enforce secularism in schools has been against head-scarves and not kippa.
While I'm not trying to say Muslims are a greater victim, the issue remains that secular France is having a significant issue dealing with the rather large amount of people who have chosen to remain culturally separate inside of France's borders.
See: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/felina/doc/israelpalest/anti_is...
4) For all of the press, there does not seem to be a concordant rise in Aliyah from France.
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)It serves to reinforce in their own minds how they can be both strong and victim at the same time.
Funny, how does one believe they are a victim while their security forces occupy and forcibly colonize another people's land?
King_David
(14,851 posts)If only it wasn't necessary .
By the replies to your post it seems posting on this topic is very necessary .
France is nearly as bad as Ireland which are hotbeds of Jew Hatred in Europe.
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)LeftishBrit
(41,192 posts)that is what is meant by 'right of return'.
I am sure that the worrying showing of the LePen party has contributed to the increased emigration right now If the BNP were doing similarly well in the UK (which I hope never happens!) I would definitely be considering my options too.
But one word of warning: Israel will never solve its, or others', problems by creating and electing LePens of its own.