Jews Flee France As Anti-Semitism Grows: Reports

MOSCOW, January 11 (Sputnik) – French Jews are fleeing the country amidst growing fears of Islamic anti-Semitism, intensified by the latest terrorist attacks in Paris, the Independent reports.

During one of the terrorist attacks in Paris this week, a gunman killed four Jewish men and held others hostage at a Jewish Kosher store until the French police stormed the building and killed the attacker. The man was identified as Amedy Coulibaly, reportedly a member of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. According to the Independent, Coulibaly targeted the Kosher store because of Palestine.

The recent events in Paris are a clear sign of the growing hatred towards French Jews. This week’s terrorist attacks will force many Jews to leave France, said Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, according to the Washington Times.

"Who has been attacked these last few days? It's cartoonists, it's journalists and it's Jews. Again the Jews have been targeted for nothing more than their name. It makes people concerned that perhaps this will never end. We are seeing a new persecution, perhaps. Many Jews are wondering whether to stay in France." – said Itzhak, a resident of the Jewish quarter in Paris, as quoted by the Independent.

Another Jewish resident Rachel Bachman said there was a new kind of fascism growing in France. “This man yesterday attacked not Israelis but Jews. It doesn't matter if you abhor what happens in Gaza – these people will kill you for being a Jew. Nothing more." – added Bachman, cited by the Independent.

In 2014, a number of anti-Semitic attacks doubled compared with the previous year, the Independent reports. Over the last 18 months, about 100,000 Jews left France, either to Britain or Israel. This is the largest emigration of Jews anywhere since World War II, the Jewish Chronicle says.

On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Jews in France that Israel would welcome French Jews if they decided to settle in Israel.

“To all the Jews of France, all the Jews of Europe, I would like to say that Israel is not just the place in whose direction you pray, the state of Israel is your home,” Netanyahu said in a statement, AFP reports. “All Jews who want to immigrate to Israel will be welcomed here warmly and with open arms. We will help you in your absorption here in our state that is also your state”.

On January 7, 2015, two gunmen burst into the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo magazine, known for issuing cartoons, ridiculing Islam. The attackers, later identified as brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, killed 12 people and injured 11, and escaped from the scene. Following two days of nationwide manhunt, the suspects were killed on Friday by French police some 20 miles northeast of Paris.