Greece Revokes Asylum Status of Gazan who Praised Oct. 7, Hamas Attack on Israel

La France est le pays dont la communauté juive se sent le moins en sécurité, en dépit des actions menées par l’État, selon un index portant sur 12 pays européens publié mardi dans le cadre d’une rencontre organisée par l’Association juive européenne (EJA).

Cet index de la « qualité de vie juive », réalisé à partir de sondages et études, croise quatre ensembles de données : le sentiment de sécurité ressenti par la communauté juive, l’attitude de la population vis-à-vis des Juifs et Israël, l’antisémitisme et enfin la « performance du gouvernement » (statistiques sur les incidents antisémites, lieux de mémoire de la Shoah, budget destiné à la sécurité des sites juifs, liberté de culte et préservation des pratiques juives telles que la circoncision et l’abattage rituel, etc…)

Les études ont été menées par l’Institute for Jewish Policy Research de Londres et par la European Union Agency for Fondamental Rights, auprès de 16 000 Juifs européens en 2018.

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Il en ressort que la France, qui comprend la plus forte communauté juive d’Europe avec un peu moins de 500 000 Juifs, arrive à la 10e position (68/100) de cet index qui concerne également l’Italie (1ère place avec 79/100), la Hongrie (2e), la Pologne (11e), la Belgique (12e place avec 60/100), mais aussi l’Allemagne, l’Espagne, le Danemark, le Royaume-Uni, la Suède, les Pays-Bas.

« L’une des conclusions, surprenante, est que le gouvernement de la France a une bonne performance » par les actions menées par l’État (score de 83/100), « mais en dépit de cela, la communauté juive exprime un fort sentiment d’inquiétude » pour sa sécurité (31/100), a déclaré à l’AFP Daniel Staetsky, auteur de cet index, statisticien à l’Institute for Jewish Policy Research.

Comme possibles explications, il a cité les « attaques terroristes antisémites » comme la tuerie de l’école juive Otzar Hatorah à Toulouse en 2012 ou l’attaque contre l’Hypercacher dans l’Est parisien en janvier 2015.

Autres enseignements de ces études : c’est au Danemark que la population juive se sent le plus en sécurité. La Hongrie arrive au premier rang concernant l’antisémitisme. Et la Belgique est dernière pour les actions menées par le pays en faveur de sa communauté juive.

Selon l’EJA, la rencontre, qui se tient à Budapest depuis lundi et se termine mardi, réunit quelque 250 personnes, dont 120 représentants et dirigeants des communautés juives d’Europe.

Dans un autre rapport publié plus tôt ce mois-ci, le rapport national des mesures gouvernementales pour lutter contre l’antisémitisme et encourager la vie juive en Belgique, le CEJI (Contribution juive à une Europe inclusive) a demandé à la Belgique de mieux enseigner la Shoah, a rapporté la presse belge.

La conclusion de ce rapport interpellait sur le fait que, dans l’ensemble, l’État belge avait peu fait pour lutter contre l’antisémitisme en tant que type spécifique de racisme. Il demandait des interventions ciblées ainsi que des efforts publics plus importants – le domaine où les politiques ayant obtenu le score le plus bas, et de loin, étant l’éducation.

« Il n’y a pas de guidance officielle par rapport à l’antisémitisme. La Shoah est enseignée, mais pas de manière consistante. Il y a des élèves à qui on n’a jamais parlé de la Shoah. Du côté francophone, il y a de nouvelles lois pour couvrir le nazisme qui vont être mises en place dans les années à venir », a déclaré Robin Sclafani, directrice du CEJI. « Les enseignants doivent être mieux formés. Il faut savoir comment enseigner l’antisémitisme par l’éducation à la Shoah contemporaine », a-t-elle ajouté.

L’idée de nommer un coordonnateur national pour la lutte contre l’antisémitisme et la promotion de la vie juive a ainsi été évoquée. L’organisation a aussi demandé à l’État d’apporter le soutien nécessaire à la mise en œuvre de la politique. Il a aussi été recommandé de mettre en place un groupe de travail interministériel durable afin de faciliter la communication et la coopération au sein du gouvernement ainsi qu’une table ronde, nationale, durable et participative, réunissant les parties prenantes dans le but de faciliter la communication et la coopération avec les organisations de la société civile afin de mettre en œuvre des plans d’action nationaux de lutte contre le racisme et l’antisémitisme.

Un consortium de recherche interdisciplinaire a aussi été recommandé, dans le but de rassembler des connaissances permettant d’éclairer la définition des politiques afin de contribuer à prévenir et à combattre l’antisémitisme et à promouvoir la vie juive. Il a enfin été demandé de fournir des ressources financières et humaines pour assurer la mise en œuvre durable de ces mesures générales.

https://fr.timesofisrael.com/les-juifs-francais-les-plus-inquiets-quant-a-leur-securite-parmi-12-pays-europeens/

Every Day during the Corona crisis our Advisory Board Member Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs (NL) writes a diary, on request of the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam, which is published on the website of the NIW, the only Jewish Dutch Magazine. Rabbi Jacobs is the head of Inter Governmental Relationships at the Rabbinical Centre of Europe. We will be regularly publishing a selection of his informative, sometimes light hearted, but always wise pieces.
For our Dutch readers you can follow the diary every day at NIW home page: https://niw.nl
Eli, Mazal Tov!
Our grandson Eli turned three! My daughter, his mother, blew up 150 balloons for it and it turned into a drive-in party. I’ll come back to it in a moment.
We are plagued here in Holand by rioters, detritus. Of course the riots are served up with a side order of ‘rational’ sauce.
The youth do not feel heard, the vaccine is not good and there will be more explanations as to why this looting is taking place. Cars are set on fire, windows smashed, police cars overturned. Polygamy must be allowed and forced prostitution is acceptable. And at the same time we speak with justified horror and disgust about glitterati such as Epstein, Weinstein and fashion king Jean-Luc Brunel who, despite their criminal lives, could and were allowed to afford themselves anything.
If everything is allowed and everything is possible, is it any wonder that this kind of criminally smelly rich activity goes on and on ?! Morality is totally lost. Is there a new phenomenon?
In the Pirke Avot, the ethics of the Fathers, we read (3: 2) that we should pray for the welfare of the royal family because if there is no authority people devour each other alive. And that is exactly what is happening now. Anarchy and therefore aimless looting, burning cars, blocking entrances to hospitals and completely destroying individual hard-working people.
As it was really unimaginable six months ago that the Capitol in the USA could be penetrated, it is no longer inconceivable in our own peaceful polder country that something like this could also happen here in our government buildings. I cannot imagine that this is not yet taken into account by the police. At the German cemetery in Ysselsteyn, an educational centre is being set up that shows how easily people can be transformed into inhuman beings. There, SS killers and Dutch traitors lie buried next to regular soldiers who were often forced, against their will, to go to war they absolutely did not want. But many of them, still young, were brainwashed and believed that good is bad and that there are Aryans and Jews, Humans and Superman.
I am convinced that ten or twenty years from now, most rioters will look back with horror at the present and be filled with shame.
By coincidence (although coincidence really does not exist!) I came across a speech I gave in 2010 on the occasion of 65 years of liberation:
“Freedom is not everything is allowed and everything is possible and freedom does not mean that we can and must tolerate everything. Freedom has limits and requires individual commitment, training, education and respect for others. Freedom cannot tolerate everything, freedom has its limitations, freedom starts with you, with me, for the sake of all of us.
They fought for freedom
For then, for tomorrow and for the present
But if freedom means, everything is possible and everything is allowed
And respect is disappearing for Government and for authority
When values ​​and norms fade and disappear
When people only think of themselves and their own
And for the other there is no place and there is no place
If it is common to think that it should
Then the freedom of that time is not the freedom of the present
Isn’t it the freedom they fought for?”
I don’t want to include the 1940s-45s. Despite the riots, despite comparisons that might be drawn, we have a Government that may not be excellent with respect to Corona, but it is reliable. Rutte can absolutely not be compared to any villainous potentate. He is a good person who wants to do what is right for his citizens.
However, I would like to mention that today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. That Holocaust also started with looting, brainwashing, indoctrination, maleficent education.
My grandson Eli who lives in Montreal turned three today. There is a custom not to cut a boy’s hair until his third birthday because man is compared in the Torah to a tree in the field. And just as the fruit of the tree must be left untouched for the first three years, so too, the hair is not cut until the boy is three. Eli has received presents, put money in the Tzedaka (charity) box , he was allowed to say aleph beit and lick the letters that were smeared with honey. Tomorrow he will be wrapped in a tallit and carried into the Jewish school and sweets will be thrown at him.
Obviously, corona is a bummer here, but I am convinced that my son-in-law and daughter will do everything as normal as possible while respecting the corona rules. So Eli is raised from day one with positive thoughts, deeds and gifts. He will not get a pistol or a frightening dragon from his grandpas and grandmas. We gave him, via zoom, his own kiddush cup, a small one of course. He is now wearing a yarmulke and tzitzit.
And so, his parents invest from a very young age in his Jewish upbringing and pray daily that Eli may continue to follow the right path, the way of Torah and Tradition, so that he will be a blessing not only for his own family but also for the society as a whole.
Eli, Mazal Tov!

Privileged to witness a moment of unity at EuroChanukah with the esteemed presence of President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the Mayor of Brussels, and EU Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas.

In times of tension, celebrating our shared traditions becomes even more crucial.
EuroChanukah stands as a beacon of resilience, transcending boundaries and fostering understanding. President Ursula von der Leyen presence underscores the significance of coming together in solidarity.

As the menorah’s flames dispel darkness, let this celebration remind us that unity is our greatest strength. In facing challenges, may EuroChanukah inspire hope, tolerance, and a shared commitment to building bridges.

Statement from EJA Chairman – Belgian Prime Ministerial response to principal Jewish Associations in Belgium

The chairman of the European Jewish Association Rabbi Menachem welcomed the assurance from Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo that he has taken seriously the increase in antisemitic acts in Belgium and elsewhere and pledging enhanced security measures to protect the Jewish community in the country. The EJA Chairman also welcomed the announcement that the Prime Minister is supporting the appointment of an independent national co-ordinator for combatting antisemitism.

However, Rabbi Margolin points out that, in light of the waves of hatred and antisemitism, particularly on the streets of Brussels and on campus in Ghent, it is time for action that Jews can no longer be satisfied with statements alone.

The confusion in distinguishing between Hamas terrorists who kill old men, rape young women and decapitate babies, and the army that tries to fight them is not only problematic for Israel but is an encouraging harbinger for the extremists here on our own streets.

A leader who does not understand this ignores a very tangible danger towards Belgian society and its citizens. If at the beginning of the war in Gaza there were those who said that the West was next in line, now, in view of the inaction of leaders in Europe – one can state that terrorism is already here.

Rabbi Margolin finally called on the Prime Minister to come to his senses, address this threat and show the kind of leadership that is devoid of narrow political considerations.