Conflict in the Mideast has sparked the growth of anti-Semitic activity in France, according to officials in that nation.
The Dallas Morning News (Feb. 11) reports that the “vicious conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East has apparently had a startling spillover effect in France, where officials report a sharp rise in the number of attacks on Jewish schools, synagogues and rabbis.” Such incidents were “extremely rare during the 1990s” — a period of relative calm in the Mideast.
For instance, in 1998 there was one serious anti-Semitic attack reported in France; by 2000, the National Human Rights Commission found 116 serious acts of violence against Jewish institutions, almost all of them taking place after the Palestinian uprising started in October of that year. Jewish leaders blame the burgeoning Arab population — numbering six million — who are angry about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Muslim leaders have advised the imams at hundreds of mosques throughout France to preach on tolerance and brotherhood.