The recent terror attacks in France show how vulnerable the Jews are in all of Europe. Can they survive the persecution?

The recent massacre that resulted in the murder of four Jews at the kosher supermarket in Paris underlined just how vulnerable the Jews of Europe are. To add insult to injury, President Francois Hollande advised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stay away from the solidarity march, a march which was to demonstrate solidarity with the journalists massacred at Charlie Habdo. Plenty of ‘Je suis Charlie’ signs, but one could hardly spot the ‘Je suis Juif’ sign. One has to wonder: had there only been a massacre  at the kosher market, and no massacre at Charlie Hebdo, would there be any march at all? With what has been witnessed over the past week, one can’t expect much from a government that voted for the latest motion in favor of the Palestinian Authority at the UN.

A recipe for civil war looms with the rise of the far right National Front in France, Jobbik in Hungary, Golden Dawn in Greece, Vlaams Belang in Belgium, coupled with an influx of Muslim immigrants, an indoctrinated people hostile towards non-Muslims and their way of life. How will Jews survive? Surrounded by never-ending conspiracy theories, whenever disaster strikes. Just recently the latest anti-Semitic conspiracy theory was that Mossad was involved in the attacks on Charlie Hebdo due to France voting in the latest motion at the UN. When the financial crisis first hit Europe, fingers from Muslims, the far right and leftists pointed towards Jews, reminiscent of classic anti-Semitism, which has mired both Europe and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region for millenia.

If the elites want to avoid such scenarios, they will have to take swift action in every level of society, from moving to ban ‘Israel Apartheid Week’  at educational institutions to cracking down on annual anti-Israel demonstrations such as ‘Al Quds Day’ and ‘The global march to Jerusalem’. This may not be enough to accommodate the Jewish community, but it would be an unprecedented move that may give Jews some respite. The biggest test of all is the attitudes towards Israel, and the vote for a non-member observer Palestinian state was not encouraging. Along with the double standard towards a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria, threats from the EU to boycott products from the ‘settlements’, while turning a blind eye to Turkey’s illegal occupation of north Cyprus and the persecution of the Serbian Christian minority by an Albanian Muslim majority in Kosovo. Yet Israel is held to a different standard. This only sends out the wrong message to Jews and illustrates that anti-Semitism is ingrained in the psyche of Europeans. If this trend continues, then Europe will eventually be emptied of Jews.

Article by Orim Shimshon

Orim Shimshon is an Iraqi non-Jew who covers stories in Israel and the UK. He has witnessed the true nature of Israel first-hand and his mission is to share his experiences with the world.