Five teens reportedly desecrated historically significant Jewish graves.
In Europe, anti-Semitic behavior is not rare. Recent events in France the past week indicated the growing intolerance towards the Jewish community in Europe.
Some 300 Jewish graves were desecrated this past week in Sarre-Union in Alsace. Images of toppled gravestones along with swastika graffiti captured the hate crime at the cemetery in France. Five young males, ages 15 to 17, are suspected of the crime and are currently being questioned.
On Sunday, a Jewish journalist by the name of Zvika Klein published a video of himself walking through the streets of Paris for ten hours wearing a yarmulke and a tzitzit. A hidden camera recorded the journalist, and the footage captures various racial slurs and even threats.
Titled “10 Hours of Walking in Paris as a Jew”, the clip features Klein being spit at two times. One individual walks close to Klein in a threatening manner and calls him “Jew” before leaving him. A woman shouts “Viva Palestine” as he walks past her. The end of the video states that in 2014, a total of 851 anti-Semitic attacks were recorded in France.
The Anti-Defamation League reports that roughly 37 percent of the adult population in France has anti-Semitic views, while 24 percent of the rest of West European adults hold anti-Semitic views.
In Copenhagen, Denmark this past week, a gunman opened fire at a synagogue. In response to the growing occurrence of hate crimes against the Jewish community, the Prime Minister of Israel urged Jewish people in Europe to return to Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu cited the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the Kosher supermarket shooting along with the recent attacks in order to convince the Jewish community to return to their “home”.
Manuel Valls, Prime Minister of France, asked French Jews to stay in France, however, and criticized Netanyahu's message.
“France is wounded with you and France does not want you to leave,” Valls said in response to the attacks on the graves.
“France tells you again of its love, support and solidarity. That love is much stronger than the acts of hatred, even if such acts are repeated,” said the Prime Minister.
