Latest news with #FrenchJewish
The Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Palestinian under psychiatric evaluation after hitting rabbi in France
PARIS: A Palestinian man arrested on Friday for throwing a chair at a rabbi in a Paris suburban cafe has been sent to hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, French authorities said. The reason for the attack was unknown, but France's main Jewish association condemned it as an antisemitic assault, and French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou blamed a 'radicalisation of public debate' against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza. The rabbi, Elie Lemmel, suffered a gash to his head from the chair that hit him as he was speaking with a companion in the cafe in the wealthy western Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. The local prosecutors' office said that it had opened a criminal investigation for assault possibly aggravated by religious motives. It said the Palestinian, an irregular migrant living with temporary papers in Germany, was thought to be 28 years old and born in the Gaza city of Rafah. It added that 'he is undergoing a psychiatric examination requiring his forced hospitalisation'. France's hardline interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said on X that the Palestinian 'had no reason to be in France' and should be 'severely punished and deported'. The French Jewish association CRIF said on X that 'this attack is yet another illustration of the toxic climate targeting French Jews'. The French Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, has faced a number of attacks and desecrations of memorials since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023. French authorities are alert to antisemitic attacks, reports of which have been on the rise as the war in Gaza grinds on. That conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023 when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked parts of Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,218 people. Israel retaliated with relentless bombardments and an aid blockade of the Gaza Strip. The ongoing military operation has resulted in the deaths of at least 54,677 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Palestinian under psychiatric evaluation after hitting rabbi
PARIS: A Palestinian man arrested on Friday for throwing a chair at a rabbi in a Paris suburban cafe has been sent to hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, French authorities said. The reason for the attack was unknown, but France's main Jewish association condemned it as an antisemitic assault, and French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou blamed a 'radicalisation of public debate' against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza. The rabbi, Elie Lemmel, suffered a gash to his head from the chair that hit him as he was speaking with a companion in the cafe in the wealthy western Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. The local prosecutors' office said that it had opened a criminal investigation for assault possibly aggravated by religious motives. It said the Palestinian, an irregular migrant living with temporary papers in Germany, was thought to be 28 years old and born in the Gaza city of Rafah. It added that 'he is undergoing a psychiatric examination requiring his forced hospitalisation'. France's hardline interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said on X that the Palestinian 'had no reason to be in France' and should be 'severely punished and deported'. The French Jewish association CRIF said on X that 'this attack is yet another illustration of the toxic climate targeting French Jews'. The French Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, has faced a number of attacks and desecrations of memorials since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023. French authorities are alert to antisemitic attacks, reports of which have been on the rise as the war in Gaza grinds on. That conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023 when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked parts of Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,218 people. Israel retaliated with relentless bombardments and an aid blockade of the Gaza Strip. The ongoing military operation has resulted in the deaths of at least 54,677 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Al Arabiya
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Rising antisemitism driving immigration to Israel despite war
Horrified by a growing wave of anti-Semitism in France that she described as 'unbearable', Sonia finally followed through on long-held plans to move to Israel during the war triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack. She now lives in an apartment in Netanya, a coastal city north of Tel Aviv where she relocated with her husband and children last year. In Paris, she often had to remind her children to hide their kippah or be discreet when asking if food was kosher, said the 27-year-old. Still shaken by her experiences, she asked AFP not to use her real name. 'We constantly had to restrain our children because I was afraid we would be attacked. Maybe we were being paranoid,' said Sonia, a pseudonym. She would arrive an hour early to stand guard outside her children's school before picking them up, fearing for their safety. Today, despite the war with Hamas, Sonia said she feels 'a hundred times safer.' Her father-in-law, Gabriel, who also made the move months after the deadliest attack in Israeli history, shares that sentiment. Out of caution, he too prefers to use a different name. He spoke of the emotional toll of 'leaving a country behind' and starting over in Israel, a 'land of exile' where he does not yet speak the language. According to the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), an umbrella body of French Jewish groups, France saw 1,570 anti-Semitic acts in 2024. The figure marked a six-percent fall from the 1,676 recorded in 2023, the year Hamas conducted its attack on southern Israel but was well above the numbers in the past decade or so. France is home to Europe's largest Jewish community and the third largest in the world after Israel and the United States. Protests in Europe condemning Israel's military retaliation in Gaza also sparked criticism, with detractors accusing demonstrators of appeasing Hamas and of condoning anti-Semitism. 'Didn't think about moving' Under Israel's Law of Return, any Jewish person is eligible to move to Israel and obtain Israeli citizenship. Sonia and Gabriel are among the 2,170 French nationals who in 2024 made aliyah, or immigration to Israel -- a staggering 96.9 percent increase from the previous year. Their sentiment is not shared across the board, with overall immigration falling from 47,200 in 2023 to 32,297 the following year, according to the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. But for many, it rings true. 'Before October 7th, I really didn't think about moving to Israel,' said Aryeh Wiesel from New Jersey in the United States. But things changed after the Hamas attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. 'I was pretty much devastated that such a brutal attack had happened... I never imagined the people, you know, being pro-Hamas and rationalizing what happened,' he said. 'It just made me feel like I want to live in a society where I don't really have to worry about anti-Semitism.' The aliyah agency Nefesh B'Nefesh reported a 60 percent increase in aliyah applications from North America between October 7, 2023, and October 6, 2024. The applicants come from a variety of backgrounds -- some are engineers, healthcare professionals, educators and lawyers -- while around 65 percent of the families are Orthodox. 'Bittersweet' By summer, the 26-year-old agriculture graduate plans to move to Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv -- without his pets or a job, but with his orchids and 'a few connections.' 'It's a bittersweet situation,' he admitted, but also a way 'to reinforce my roots.' His grandparents had fled Hungary and Romania after the Holocaust, first settling in Israel before eventually moving to the United States. Marisa Douenias, 34, an American raised in the Reform Jewish tradition, had also never imagined living in another country. Then, in July 2024, she arrived in Israel with her luggage, her dog and a deep conviction that she was contributing 'in some way to the rebuilding' of Israel. 'I did have some idea of what that is like,' she said, but the reality on the ground still required some adjustment. 'I will admit I was unprepared for, you know, what it's like when, for instance, almost every single night in a week you're getting woken up at between 2:30 and 4:30 in the morning by sirens.' She remains firm in her belief that coexistence is the 'only chance' for peace in the region, and the war is still a concern. 'I have three boys. I know they will serve in the army. As a mother, that terrifies me,' said Sonia. 'But I made the choice to come here, so I'm signing the contract -- taking the good with the bad.'
