Jewish leaders across France say that a “new anti-Semitism” is growing within the country.
The group cites four main factors in what they call an enhanced atmosphere of fear for French Jews. The rise of far-right nationalist groups with Nazi sympathies, a deteriorating relationship between black Europeans and Jews, hard economic times and the soaring population of Muslims in France who carry traditional anti-Jew beliefs.
France, the home to the largest Jewish community in Europe, has seen an increase in violence against Jews. Earlier this month, two Jewish youths were jumped and severely beaten as they were heading to synagogue in an eastern Paris suburb. The man who launched a deadly attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels was French and had recently been in Syria with Islamic extremists.
Jewish citizens have been subjected in recent weeks to intimidation from residents who told “dirty Jewesses” that they have too many children and the homes of Jewish residents have had Stars of David spray-painted on the sides of their homes.
A 13-year-old girl told the Washington Post the atmosphere is enough to scare her from being alone with friends.
“I’m afraid that what happened in Toulouse will happen at my school too,” Michele said. (The girl’s last name was withheld for security reasons.) “I hear what people say about Jews. And I am scared.”
Four people are dead and two injured after a pair of anti-semitic attacks in Europe.
The deadly attack came in Brussels, Belgium, where a gunman walked into a Jewish museum and opened fire. The gunman reportedly double parked his car outside the museum, casually strolled inside and opened fire with a Kalashnikov rifle.
The gunman had clearly been planning the attack according to police officials who saw the security footage. The gunman walked in and out within a minute, obviously executing some kind of timed attack. Witnesses say the gunman jogged to his car and causally pulled away.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but the terrorism alert level in Belgium has been raised because of the assault.
Hours later in Paris, two Jewish youths leaving a service at a synagogue were attacked by men on bikes. The 21-year-old and 18-year-old brothers were beaten heavily with brass knuckles and are hospitalized in serious condition but are believed to make a full recovery.
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck southern France Monday according to the French National Seismic Monitoring Network.
The quake was located near the resort city of Nice and was only 7 miles deep. A local seismic expert said that the quake should be seen as a “warning” to France.
“We don’t know when a big one will come, but it will and there will certainly be fatalities,” Remy Bossu of the European Mediterranean Seismological Center told a French newspaper. “In Italy or Greece everyone is fully aware of the risks simply because earthquakes happen more often. Everyone knows about them and it’s part of their culture, but not in France.”
Monday’s quake, which lasted 15 seconds, reportedly only caused minor damage to buildings throughout the region. Seismologists say a quake of this nature strikes France only one every 30 years.
The quake was the second surprise quake to strike France in the last six months. In November, a 4.5 magnitude quake struck in northwest France near Brittany.
The European Commission is warning the Spanish and Italian governments that their draft budgets for 2014 do not comply with new debt and deficit rules. The Commission also said that France and the Netherlands barely qualified for the new standards.
According to the European Union’s charter, countries that do not comply will likely have to revise their tax and spending plans before they can be submitted to national parliaments. The warning marks the first time the EC has taken this step.
Eurozone members states are required to cut deficits until they reach a balanced budget. They also have to reduce levels of public debt. The Commission usually gives countries flexibility if their deficit is below the EU ceiling of 3% of the nation’s gross domestic product.
The Commission said that France, while just below the 3% threshold, was making only “limited progress” in reforms.
The Eurozone economy grew by .1% from July to September in data released Thursday, down from .3% growth in the previous quarter.
In a blow to France’s attempt to right its struggling economy, Standard and Poor’s has downgraded the country’s credit rating one level to AA. The move comes two years after France lost top-rated AAA status.
The downgrade was attributed to high unemployment in the country that analysts believe will make it difficult for the government to boost economic growth.
S&P said in a news release they expect government debt to reach 86% of gross domestic product in 2015 and that unemployment will stay over 10% until well into 2016.
The French government responded by saying that their debt rating was one of the safest in the Eurozone. The downgrade theoretically makes borrowing more expensive for the French government.
S&P did add a “stable” outlook to France meaning it’s unlikely there will be a downgrade to their credit rating within the next two years.
A French citizen believed to have links with a German al-Qaeda cell connected to the September 11th attacks in New York is in custody in Paris.
Naamen Meziche has been placed under “formal investigation”. He was deported from Pakistan on Tuesday on charges of criminal conspiracy regarding a terrorist enterprise. Meziche is believed an associate of al-Qaeda commander Younis al-Mauritani who planned attacks for Osama Bin Laden in Australia, Europe and the U.S.
“This is a big fish, at the historic heart of al-Qaeda,” a French anti-terrorism officer told AFP news agency.
Meziche recruited jihadists at a mosque in Hamburg, Germany where the 9/11 hijackers regularly met before moving to the United States.
A source inside the court told French media outlets that evidence against Meziche will date back into the 1990s.
France is calling for international force to be used in Syria if it can be proven that yesterday’s attack on a civilian population was the result of the government using chemical weapons.
“France’s position is that there must be a reaction,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the BFM TV channel. “A reaction that could take the form of a reaction with force.”
France, the U.K. and Turkey have all demanded action by the United Nations. Continue reading →
One of Africa’s most wanted terrorists has released a video announcing his group has merged with another terror group aiming to take revenge on France for its intervention in Mali.
Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who has a $5 million bounty on his head by U.S. authorities, said his Masked Men Brigade will join with a Mali-based terror group to form Al-Murabitoun. Belmokhtar is the man believed to have masterminded the terror attack and hostage execution in Algerian plant in January. Continue reading →
The French government hailed the election of a new president in Mali as vindication for its decision to send in troops to fight Islamic terrorists in that country.
French President Francois Hollande said the election was “remarkably transparent” and called newly-elected Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to tell him that France “will stand by Mali.” Continue reading →
A second night of violence by Islamists angry over a French government ban on Muslim face veils burned at least 20 cars and led to four arrests.
A police official told reporters that at least 50 Islamists were involved, firing weapons at police. At least one assailant threw a gasoline bomb at police officers. Continue reading →
