As Israel mourns Paris victims, fears grow over anti-Semitism in France
The four French Jews buried Tuesday in Israel were killed last week in Paris by a Muslim extremist who was later shot dead by police. Thousands of security officials are guarding Jewish schools and other sites.
The four French Jews buried Tuesday in Israel were killed last week in Paris by a Muslim extremist who was later shot dead by police. Thousands of security officials are guarding Jewish schools and other sites.
The four Jewish hostages killed by an Islamic extremist in a kosher supermarket in Paris on Friday were buried today in Israel, where thousands of mourners turned out to honor them.聽
An estimated 2,000 people attended the funeral at Har Menuhot cemetery in Jerusalem. 鈥淪hock and sorrow was palpable,鈥� reports Agence France-Presse, 鈥渁s family members and top Israeli officials stood to pay tribute to the four men who were shot dead鈥�.
The four men buried 鈥� Yoav Hattab, Yohan Cohen, Philippe Braham, and Francois-Michel Saada 鈥� were among 17 people killed in and around Paris last week at the hands of jihadist radicals. The mayhem began with an assault on the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday.
Friday鈥檚 attack at the kosher store sent shockwaves through France鈥檚 Jewish community, the third largest in the world, and raised concerns about anti-Semitism in Europe. In his eulogy, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he believed world leaders 鈥渁t least are starting to understand that the terror of extreme Islam is a real threat.鈥�
"Europe's leaders must firmly and actively restore the sense of security for the Jews of Europe," Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said in his own eulogy. "It should not be the case that in 2015, 70 years since the end of World War II, that Jews should be afraid to walk with a yarmulke on their heads and tzitzit under their clothes in the streets of Europe."
As 海角大神鈥檚 Christa Case Bryant reports, last week鈥檚 attack was the latest in a long history of anti-Semitic acts in France.
The Monitor reports that the Paris attacks have also rattled Jews in Israel, where Mr. Netanyahu has offered a warm welcome to any French Jews who wanted to emigrate there. About 7,000 French Jews immigrated to Israel last year, double the number in 2013. More were expected this year even before the attacks last week.
Click here to read The Monitor's full story from Monday about the Israel's response to the terrorist attacks in France.