Sharon urges Jews to leave France, as French Anti-Semetic Attacks Escalate

[Evilmav2]

Ariel Sharon: Endangered French Jews 'must move to Israel'


Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has urged all French Jews to move to Israel immediately to escape anti-Semitism.
He told a meeting of the American Jewish Association in Jerusalem that Jews around the world should relocate to Israel as early as possible.

But for those living in France, he added, moving was a "must" because of rising violence against Jews there.

France's foreign ministry said it had asked Israel for an explanation of the "unacceptable comments".

French Jewish leaders, interviewed on France-2 Television, said Mr Sharon's remarks were unhelpful.

"These comments do not bring calm, peace and serenity that we all need," said Patrick Gaubert, of the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra). "I think Mr Sharon would have done better tonight to have kept quiet."

"It's not up to him to decide for us," said Theo Klein, honorary president of Crif, which represents French Jewish organisations.

Trend

France has suffered a wave of anti-Semitic attacks coinciding with renewed fighting in the Middle East.


About France, on one hand we see the spread of the wildest anti-Semitism there

Ariel Sharon

"We see the spread of the wildest anti-Semitism" in France, Mr Sharon said.

The latest French government figures show 510 anti-Jewish acts or threats in the first six months of 2004 - compared to 593 for all of last year.

In recent years there have been bomb attacks against a number of synagogues and Jewish schools in France.

Jewish tombs have also been desecrated.

Mr Sharon acknowledged that the Paris government had made efforts to tackle the problem.

He added that France faced a new kind of anti-Semitism based on anti-Israeli feelings and propaganda.

He pointed out that France had a large Muslim community estimated at less than 10% of population, or about five million.

Hoax

Mr Sharon said his advice to French Jews was that moving to Israel was "a must and they have to move immediately".

The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says this is not the first time that Mr Sharon has spoken about the need for French Jews to leave for Israel, but rarely has he been so blunt.

"We have immediately made contact with Israeli authorities to ask them for explanations about these unacceptable statements," said French foreign ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous.

Our correspondent says there is irritation in France at the idea that life for Jews there is becoming dangerous - especially as the government has made every effort to show that anti-Jewish acts will be severely punished.

A week ago President Jacques Chirac rushed to condemn an apparently anti-Semitic attack on a Paris train that turned out to be a hoax.

Our correspondent adds that his haste only aggravated passions among many in the Muslim community who feel they are the instant scapegoats.

[dude1394]

Yes the "enlightened" and sophisticated europeans.

[Mavdog]

Sharon isn't European, he's Israeli.

[dude1394]

MD... I was referring to the "enlighted" europeans who desecrated the graves.

[Mavdog]

anti semitism is not confined to europe dude....and Sharon's an idiot for the statements he made.

[madape]

Yeah, what an idiot. He's made Israel safer for Jews than Paris. He should be ashamed of himself.

[Mavdog]

Originally posted by: madape
Yeah, what an idiot. He's made Israel safer for Jews than Paris. He should be ashamed of himself.

hmm, Sharon has "made Israel safer for Jews than Paris"?

remind me, when was the last murder in Paris of a person killed for being a jew? When was the last attack on a person in Paris for the reason that they are jewish? When was there a family shot in their sleep for being jews?
ridiculous.

Europe has an ugly history of anti-semitism, but to claim that all the remaining jews need to flee Europe for the safety of Israel is absurd and illogical.

The irony is that many of the causes for the negativity towards Israel prevalent in European society can be traced back to policies that Sharon championed, ie the settlements in occupied terrority.