Antisemitism in 21st-century France

Antisemitism in France has become heightened since the late 20th century and into the 21st century. In the early 21st century, most Jews in France, like most Muslims in France, are of North African origin. France has the largest population of Jews in the diaspora after the United States—an estimated 500,000–600,000 persons. Paris has the highest population, followed by Marseilles, which has 70,000 Jews. Expressions of antisemitism were seen to rise during the Six-Day War of 1967 and the French anti-Zionist campaign of the 1970s and 1980s.[1][2] Following the electoral successes achieved by the extreme right-wing National Front and an increasing denial of the Holocaust among some persons in the 1990s, surveys showed an increase in stereotypical antisemitic beliefs among the general French population.[3][4][5]

At the beginning of the 21st century, antisemitism in France rose sharply during the unrest of the Second Intifada in Israel and the Palestinian territories, as it did in other European nations.[6] In addition, a significant proportion of the second-generation Muslim immigrant population in France began to identify with the Palestinian cause, with some also identifying with radical Islamism.[7][8][9] In the early 2000s, a critical debate on the nature of antisemitism in France accompanied denunciation of it in relation to the situation in the Middle East and to Islam. Divisions developed among anti-racist groups.[6][10][11]

Alarmed by violence and verbal attacks, some French Jews began to emigrate to Israel. By early 2014 the number of French Jews making aliyah (emigrating to Israel) surpassed the number of American Jews who were emigrating. At the same time 70 percent of French Jews reported in surveys that they were concerned about insults or harassment and 60% about physical aggression because of their ethnicity; both figures are much higher than shown in surveys of the European average.[12]

  1. ^ Emmanuel Navon, "France, Israel, and the Jews: The End of an Era?", Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, 2015, https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23739770.2015.1042277
  2. ^ "Le Surmoi antisémite de la Télévision Française", Times of Israel
  3. ^ [1], US Holocaust Museum
  4. ^ "Holocaust denial/legal concepts in Europe" Archived 2018-03-01 at the Wayback Machine, Democratic Union
  5. ^ "Holocaust denial is part of a strategy". May 1998.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference EUMC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Smith, Craig S. (26 March 2006). "Jews in France Feel Sting as Antisemitism Surges Among Children of Immigrants". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  8. ^ "A Frenchman Or a Jew?" By Fernanda Eberstadt, New York Times Magazine, February 29, 2004
  9. ^ Daniella Peled, "French hatred of Jews goes far beyond Muslim antisemitism, says U.K. author", Haaretz, 18 February 2014
  10. ^ Wieviorka, Michel (2005). The Lure of Antisemitism - Hatred of Jews in Present-Day France. Netherlands: Brill. ISBN 978-900416337-9.
  11. ^ "Alarmed by antisemitism, French Jews consider flight", Deutsche Welt, 17 March 2014
  12. ^ "Alarmed by anti-Semitism, French Jews consider flight". Deutsche Welt.

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