‘Je Suis Juif’: What the Paris Terror Attacks Mean for French Jews

The rallies that followed the recent terror attacks in Paris brought together various segments of French society, including journalists and others who firmly believe in freedom of expression as well as French Jews mourning the loss of their community members. But, as Bernard Edinger, a 1985 Nieman Fellow, writes in the February 9 issue of The Jerusalem Report, showing support for the victims of the attacks was a thorny issue for some French Muslims: “[W]hen a nationwide minute of silence was called the following day, incidents in which the gunmen were praised, teachers challenged and France insulted were reported in more than 200 schools in areas with high concentrations of pupils of Muslim Arab origin. Students jeered, whistled, stamped their feet and shouted ‘Allahu akbar’ (God is great), teachers reported.” And it is attitudes like these, the former Reuters bureau chief writes, that have French Jews worried–and seriously considering Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s encouragement to “come home.”  The Jerusalem Report is an Israeli-based English-language publication; Edinger is its Paris stringer.