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Hate: The Rising Tide of Anti-Semitism in France
What is the connection between a rise in the number of random attacks against Jews on the streets of France and strategically planned terrorist acts targeting the French population at large? Before the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, the Bataclan night club, and others made international headlines, Marc Weitzmann had noticed a surge of seemingly random acts of violence against the Jews of France. His disturbing and eye-opening new book, Hate, proposes that both the small-scale and large-scale acts of violence have their roots in not one, but two very specific forms of populism: an extreme and violent ethos of hate spread among the Muslim post-colonial suburban developments on the one hand, and the deeply-rooted French ultra-conservatism of the far right. Weitzmann's shrewd on-the-ground reporting is woven throughout with the history surrounding the legacies of the French Revolution, the Holocaust, and Gaulist "Arab-French policy."
Hate is a chilling and important account that shows how the rebirth of French Anti-Semitism relates to the new global terror wave, revealing France to be a veritable localized laboratory for a global phenomenon.
Hate is a chilling and important account that shows how the rebirth of French Anti-Semitism relates to the new global terror wave, revealing France to be a veritable localized laboratory for a global phenomenon.
323 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 12, 2019
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March 31, 2019
The face of new Anti-Semitism in France
In the last forty years, tens of thousands of Jews have left France for Israel or to the peripheries of Paris and Lyon, where Muslim populations is rapidly rising. Across the globe, in Islamic countries and in Muslim communities elsewhere, Anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments are increasing largely fueled by Muslin clerics strengthening the Islamic teachings against Jews. The Quran makes forty-three specific references to Children of Israel using the term Yahud for Jews. The Qur’an teaches Jews as evil and projects them negatively in verses: 5:82; 2:79; 3:75, 3:181; 5:64; 5:41;5:13; 2:247; 3:78; 2:14; 2:44; 2:109; 3:120; 5:18; 4:161; 4:46; 2:61; 2:74; 2:100; 5:79; 59:13-14; and 4:53.
Over the course of the past decade, France never had less than 400 anti-Semitic acts a year, including the brutal murder of Ilan Halimi by the “gang of Barbarians� in 2006; and the massacre at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse in 2012. Jewish gravestones are routinely defaced and desecrated with swastikas and anti-Jewish slogans. The northwestern Paris represents a tactical retreat for Jews; It has become a haven for many Jews who say they have faced harassment in areas with growing Muslim populations. Ms. Galilli, a Jewish woman moved to this neighborhood said that they spit when she walked in the neighborhood for wearing a Star of David. France has a painful history of anti-Semitism with its worst hours coming in the 1930s and during the German occupation in World War II. But in recent months, journalists and academics have called this “new anti-Semitism,� and they trace a wave of anti-Semitic acts to France’s growing Muslim population. For the French government, it is touching the country’s rawest political nerves, as well as ethnic and religious fault lines. They cannot categorize people by race or religious affiliation. In the eyes of the law and the French constitution all French citizens are equal. Gunther Jikeli, a German historian at Indiana University who conducted a study of Muslim anti-Semitism in Europe, called the phenomenon “blindingly obvious,� in his interview with the newspaper Le Monde. A manifesto signed by a former president, a former prime minister and numerous intellectuals warned of a “silent ethnic purge,� a reference to what Mr. Fourquet called the “large-scale phenomenon� of internal migration. The manifesto called on Muslims to renounce what it deemed anti-Semitic verses in the Quran. Author and philosopher Pascal Bruckner said that “For fear of not setting one community against another, you wind up hiding things.�
Routine expression of anti-Semitism is also linked to the state of Israel. Michel Serfaty, a rabbi, has led good-will bus tours in Muslim communities in France for more than 10 years acknowledged an uphill battle. “I’ve seen it myself,� he said. “Day after day, the insults, and finally people say, ‘Right, that’s it, we’re leaving.� Complicating the matter, as it is happening all over the world is that the radical left and liberal feminists align with Muslim community in its expression of antisemitism. This is sad for European countries where the political, social and economic landscape is rapidly changing. The Roman Catholic Church tried to control the lives of Europeans for centuries. Now, when they are enjoying the freedom of free expression, the population is facing an uphill task of fighting the domination of Islam over their lives.
The book is very narrative and describes in detail some of the terrorist attacks on Jewish business and Jewish individuals. The author analyzes the circumstances that led to the brutal murder of Ilan Halimi by the gang of Barbarians, and other cases. For a reader interested in the influence of Islam on the growth and nurturing of antisemitism, this is quite interesting.
In the last forty years, tens of thousands of Jews have left France for Israel or to the peripheries of Paris and Lyon, where Muslim populations is rapidly rising. Across the globe, in Islamic countries and in Muslim communities elsewhere, Anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments are increasing largely fueled by Muslin clerics strengthening the Islamic teachings against Jews. The Quran makes forty-three specific references to Children of Israel using the term Yahud for Jews. The Qur’an teaches Jews as evil and projects them negatively in verses: 5:82; 2:79; 3:75, 3:181; 5:64; 5:41;5:13; 2:247; 3:78; 2:14; 2:44; 2:109; 3:120; 5:18; 4:161; 4:46; 2:61; 2:74; 2:100; 5:79; 59:13-14; and 4:53.
Over the course of the past decade, France never had less than 400 anti-Semitic acts a year, including the brutal murder of Ilan Halimi by the “gang of Barbarians� in 2006; and the massacre at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse in 2012. Jewish gravestones are routinely defaced and desecrated with swastikas and anti-Jewish slogans. The northwestern Paris represents a tactical retreat for Jews; It has become a haven for many Jews who say they have faced harassment in areas with growing Muslim populations. Ms. Galilli, a Jewish woman moved to this neighborhood said that they spit when she walked in the neighborhood for wearing a Star of David. France has a painful history of anti-Semitism with its worst hours coming in the 1930s and during the German occupation in World War II. But in recent months, journalists and academics have called this “new anti-Semitism,� and they trace a wave of anti-Semitic acts to France’s growing Muslim population. For the French government, it is touching the country’s rawest political nerves, as well as ethnic and religious fault lines. They cannot categorize people by race or religious affiliation. In the eyes of the law and the French constitution all French citizens are equal. Gunther Jikeli, a German historian at Indiana University who conducted a study of Muslim anti-Semitism in Europe, called the phenomenon “blindingly obvious,� in his interview with the newspaper Le Monde. A manifesto signed by a former president, a former prime minister and numerous intellectuals warned of a “silent ethnic purge,� a reference to what Mr. Fourquet called the “large-scale phenomenon� of internal migration. The manifesto called on Muslims to renounce what it deemed anti-Semitic verses in the Quran. Author and philosopher Pascal Bruckner said that “For fear of not setting one community against another, you wind up hiding things.�
Routine expression of anti-Semitism is also linked to the state of Israel. Michel Serfaty, a rabbi, has led good-will bus tours in Muslim communities in France for more than 10 years acknowledged an uphill battle. “I’ve seen it myself,� he said. “Day after day, the insults, and finally people say, ‘Right, that’s it, we’re leaving.� Complicating the matter, as it is happening all over the world is that the radical left and liberal feminists align with Muslim community in its expression of antisemitism. This is sad for European countries where the political, social and economic landscape is rapidly changing. The Roman Catholic Church tried to control the lives of Europeans for centuries. Now, when they are enjoying the freedom of free expression, the population is facing an uphill task of fighting the domination of Islam over their lives.
The book is very narrative and describes in detail some of the terrorist attacks on Jewish business and Jewish individuals. The author analyzes the circumstances that led to the brutal murder of Ilan Halimi by the gang of Barbarians, and other cases. For a reader interested in the influence of Islam on the growth and nurturing of antisemitism, this is quite interesting.
February 23, 2023
“History, at the end of the day, may well be the history of the tales humans invent to explain to themselves what they do. What needs to be understood, then, is why some narratives work better than others to rationally legitimize sadism and murder�.
While complicated and dense at times, this journalistic account of the rise of anti-semitic violence in France within the past two decades was extremely educational and made me think about the human condition and how we can hold so much hate in our hearts for seemingly no reason at all. I especially loved the discussion of language and how we create these “truths� which are then passed down through language, oftentimes subconsciously, that then lead us to hate specific groups or use words without even realizing their meaning or why they have such negative connotations: “the dormant hate contained in anti-semitic clichés, once acted out, is shaped by the propaganda into a pseudo-rational narrative…�
While complicated and dense at times, this journalistic account of the rise of anti-semitic violence in France within the past two decades was extremely educational and made me think about the human condition and how we can hold so much hate in our hearts for seemingly no reason at all. I especially loved the discussion of language and how we create these “truths� which are then passed down through language, oftentimes subconsciously, that then lead us to hate specific groups or use words without even realizing their meaning or why they have such negative connotations: “the dormant hate contained in anti-semitic clichés, once acted out, is shaped by the propaganda into a pseudo-rational narrative…�
December 11, 2020
“Marc Weitzmann has given us a blueprint of dangerous religious hatred that harkens to the Holocaust, with a promise of terror yet to come.�
Author Marc Weitzmann is an award-winning journalist who has published ten books in France. He is a regular contributor to Le Monde’s literary supplement and Tablet Magazine.
Before recent outbreaks of violence in France against Jews, before Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan night club attacks, author Weitzmann noticed patterns emerging among these attacks against Jews in France. He sensed a relationship between apparently random “lone wolf� attacks by the general public and strategic, organized attacks by professionally trained terrorists, such as from ISIS or Al Qaeda. Yet those groups could hardly be similar. One supports open democracy, the other mandates Sharia law.
The scope of earlier anti-Semitism in Europe, including the Nazi genocide of Jews in WWII is not addressed here. The author’s focus is concentrated on attacks in recent decades.
Could these outbreaks of violence against Jews have presented a harbinger for even more murderous attacks against Jews elsewhere, including the Argentina Jewish Center attack and the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue massacre? Are these orchestrated massacres against Jewish targets about to increase and in varied global locations? Can we use such data to predict future acts of terror against Jews?
Are specific nations, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Pakistan financially supporting the training of terrorists and acts of terror against Jews? And if they are employing a deliberate strategy to attack “soft� Jewish targets, can there be any safe place for Jews?
Weitzmann’s excellent book is a stellar focus upon the major influences producing an increase in anti-Semitism in France during the past 30 years. Thanks to the author’s careful research, Hate is more than an analysis of recent anti-Semitic attacks. It has become a signpost, signaling where terrorists might strike next.
Weitzmann carefully examines the confluence of fluctuating political conditions in France, influenced significantly by widespread Muslim immigration, in addition to the rise of far right indigenous French political parties, such as the National Front. These disparate groups express similar anti-Semitic values and promise more such attacks in the future.
The result has been not just an increase in overall French anti-Semitism, but repeated murderous attacks against “soft� Jewish targets, including a school near Toulouse, patrons at the Bataclan theater, a Brussels neighborhood shootout and the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The tragedy in Mumbai might similarly fit within this type of genocide, had the net been cast farther.
The author demonstrates how countless French citizens, including populist/nationalistic natives and radicalized Muslim immigrants, accept and promote tired, old, discredited lies about Jews, such as those presented in the widely debunked Protocols of Zion, which they continue to feed their mendacious supporters.
This unholy union of Jew-haters and Islamic radicals blame Jews throughout time as the source of all of civilization’s troubles, but fail to provide any empirical evidence. Still, many sociologists today believe that the public is only happy when they have people who behave differently to despise. That such deceitful groups can summon gullible haters to perform acts of terror against innocent Jewish families, or any other type of family, is a dangerous sign of catastrophes yet to occur and not just in France. The only solution is education.
Weitzmann also makes clear his disdain for the political left in France and serves a warning to America about the danger in allowing an unfettered political left to align their values with Islamic extremists. It’s hard to say if more conservative Western nations would succumb to a surrender to politically embedded or celebrity liberals. Still, we have been fairly warned and served with notice that we should prepare for devastating attacks, especially against Jews. The only question will be how we respond.
Muslim immigrants and far right French nationalists make for strange political bedfellows. They are disparate groups politically, socially and religiously. Here we find only one common feature: anti-Semitism. We see a commonality of purpose in which French nationalists and Muslim immigrants equally share in hatred of Jews and in promoting violent acts of punishment against Jews. Yet neither group can change present conditions because they represent a small fraction of French society. So they resort to attacking “soft� Jewish targets because it is their only viable method of attacking French influence and power.
These disparate groups of French citizens hate all Jews because they have been taught to hate throughout their lives by anti-Semitic family members and friends—and they hate Jews as a product of astonishing ignorance, jealously and avarice. Ironically, nowhere within Jewish teaching do we find it advised to hate members of any other religion.
France was a colonial power until the mid-20th century, controlling vast areas of the Middle East, the far East (Vietnam), and North Africa. Like most colonial powers, they were hated by the indigenous populations under their control.
Weitzmann traces the actions of Muslim immigrants from French colonial nations like Gambia, Chad, Mali, Togo, Sudan, Gabon, Tunisia, Niger, Republic of Congo, and Cameroon as they assimilated politically into contemporary French society. Vast immigration from those lands has pulled France farther toward viewing Jews as a malignancy, rather than a social and economic resource.
Weitzmann leaves us with significant research to perform and critical decisions to make. How can we use the results of this book to help nations defend themselves from anti-Semitic attacks by both Islamic extremists and by those within our own societies who hate for widely ignorant, nefarious, and improbable reasons?
The author attempts to leverage his family’s experiences related to fighting anti-Semitism, with his general political and social research and useful interviews with key players. While a noble effort, it falls a little flat due to inadequate relevancy. The influence of the author’s family just did not appear highly germane.
In terms of editing, this book would be enhanced with the addition of visual aids, including diagrams and links to relevant videos of anti-Semitic acts. Otherwise, the translation and editing appear quite solid.
Nonfiction can almost always be enhanced in quality by the use of varied media. In this case, photos, maps, charts, drawings and news articles (or remnants) from events such as the Charlie Hebdo murders, the Bataclan Theater tragedy and the Toulouse shooting would bring facts to bear in a way that words and descriptions cannot.
Is there a connection between the new wave of anti-Semitism in France and Europe to violence against Jews in general? Could they be part of a new wave of anti-Semitism with foreboding global results? Do American militia groups and right-wing citizens espouse the same anger, resentment, and commitment to achieve violence against Jews as did the French far right? These are the important questions for future consideration.
Waves of terror and murder against Jews and Jewish families in France are examined carefully in this excellent book. The author’s research is spot on and relevant. His writing is swift, vital and enlightening. Jews are not safe in France and elsewhere today. Marc Weitzmann has given us a blueprint of dangerous religious hatred that harkens to the Holocaust, with a promise of terror yet to come.
June 23, 2021
Macabre
...Of course, our Communist parents had not had us circumcised. At thirty, when I was in analysis, it had suddenly seemed of the greatest importance to remedy that. I was as atheistic then as I am now, however, so to be lying half-naked on the operating table while the surgeon removed my foreskin and the rabbi stood at my side with a Torah in his hands, making me repeat the Psalms, felt like complete lunacy. As did the bar mitzvah that followed some weeks later, during which I stood at the altar reciting the parsha with a nonstop and rather painful erection hidden in my pants because of the blood rushing into my penis, a consequence of the operation. (The erection, which it was out of the question to relieve, lasted a full month, the time it took the stitches to heal.)
Why we do what we do, sometimes, remains as mysterious as the meaning of the Kaddish itself. In front of Jean-Louis’s grave on that sunny spring morning in April 2015, all I could say was that if I had to do it again, I would. But why—I couldn’t tell. Given the turn of events in the country, it seemed that my whole attitude toward my Jewishness and toward France—what Jean-Louis’s son, my cousin Michel, had called our “heritage� a few minutes ago—could be seen as much as an affirmative act against the rising tide of national madness on the subject of the Jews as my own personal contribution to it.
It is one of the most striking paradoxes of our age that the reactionary personalities most dedicated to the resurrection of “authentic values”—whether national, like Maurras’s pupils such as Steve Bannon, or religious, like the Wahhabi leaders—are all narcissistic transgressors. Take Putin and Alexander Dugin, take Marion Maréchal–Le Pen and de Benoist, and, of course, Donald Trump... If the choice in the twentieth century was between being normal and being exceptional, it seems that in our century the choice will increasingly be between ordinariness and psychopathy in the sense Mailer gave to this word. Jihadists, in this context, appear merely like an extreme case. But it doesn’t make their religion less true. It could well be the other way around: to survive in the scientific-technological world, any system that pretends to authenticity may need to give way to psychopathy and violence, if only because it is the best way to communicate. Just think of what Islam would be in the world today without Wahhabis and political Islam, without the murder of women, homosexuals, and Jews. Would anyone speak about it, or, rather, would it be in the same state as the Catholic Church in France, its churches empty and the most dynamic of the Christians reduced to a fringe of believers fighting for the Mass in Latin?
July 24, 2019
This is a book that I think needed to be written and needs to be read probably more than once to fully digest all of the information. With the society we live in people change faiths and change the country they live in at a frequent rate, be it by choice or out of necessity. As usual in an unsettled world or country, if we look back in history, we can see this, the Jews are one of the first people to be targeted for hate. Anti-Semitism is something that can never be ignored, and, in this book, we can clearly see the rise in France that has occurred. What has and continues to occur in France can so easily occur in any other country. We have a duty to prevent this and everyone has to stop the hate, this book is about France, yet it shines the light on the problem as a warning sign for other countries.
April 30, 2020
This is scary
December 4, 2020
I couldn't get into it, not interested in the subject matter.
August 21, 2021
This is, and I can not emphasize this enough, DEEPLY worrying.
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