“The rioters in central Marseille looted and vandalized all the shops owned by Jews, but did not touch shops owned by Muslims,” Thierry Toubiana, vice president of Keren Hayesod in France, told Davar. Similar claims circulated on social media earlier this week, but were not confirmed by official sources. According to Toubiana, “This is something the French media will not talk about.”
Toubiana says that in Lyon, France’s second-largest city, no shops in the city center were left untouched by looting or vandalism. “Not a single shop was left. Imagine what that means.”
“This is the end of French Jewry,” he says. “Within a few years, France will be ‘Judenrein.’ The Muslim Brotherhood is doing serious, consistent work, explaining to everyone who comes to its mosques and institutions that Israel is the worst thing in the world. They explain that Israel and the Zionists are the world’s biggest problem. We didn’t need October 17 (the name given to the riots in France) to understand this. French Jewry is finished.”
French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation yesterday, saying that “nothing justifies this unthinkable violence” and that “those who looted businesses or attacked public buildings must pay for their crimes.” Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far right, said that the French people were living through a deep crisis of trust and authority that threatened democracy. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin acknowledged that the system was not effectively dealing with violent riots by groups from the radical left. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said for the first time this morning that “the situation has gotten out of control in several cities” and submitted his resignation to Macron, who refused to accept it. More than 2,000 people were arrested and around 1,000 security personnel were injured in the riots over the weekend. The Trade and Retail Association reported yesterday that approximately 1,500 businesses had been affected, with damage estimated at several hundred million euros.
Authorities in Marseille reported yesterday that an estimated 30,000 people had participated in the looting of shops in the city center. This morning, a police order was issued banning gatherings and demonstrations. The French media did not cover the destruction of Jewish-owned shops or the persecution of Jews. According to Toubiana, the break-in at a synagogue in Paris’s 19th arrondissement, which was filmed and reported on in Israel, also received no coverage whatsoever in the French media. As with previous riots, he adds, the violence is not spontaneous but is organized by Muslim groups and far-left organizations, as well as antisemitic organizations well known to French Jews.
The French media and most elected officials generally avoid attributing the violence to particular groups within the population. However, whether the rioters are united by ethnic identity or class identity, it is not difficult to see which groups are leading the unrest in the streets. Some young French people also join the riots, but they are few in number. At lawful demonstrations, the situation is the opposite: many more French women are visible, most of them young.
“Many Citizens Feel That the Country Has Lost Its Direction”
Isaac Barchichat, president of the Mizrachi movement in France and deputy mayor of a Paris suburb, is also concerned about the situation. “For French Jews, every increase in violence and antisemitism heightens concerns for the safety of the community and its synagogues. Many citizens feel that the country has lost its direction and that there is no leadership capable of restoring trust and a sense of security.
“What is happening in France is not merely a wave of demonstrations; it is the culmination of an economic, social, and political crisis. We have a duty to distinguish between legitimate protest and violence, vandalism, and property damage. The government is struggling to assert its authority, and the police are being forced to deal with difficult situations. There is a sense that different struggles and groups are coming together around anger toward the government. The risk of a serious escalation is certainly worrying.”
Toubiana believes that around half of the approximately 450,000 Jews currently living in France will emigrate in the coming years, some to Israel and others to the United States. Since October 7, France has ranked third in the number of immigrants to Israel, after Russia and the United States. According to estimates, more than 4,000 French Jews will immigrate to Israel this year.
“Israel must carry out an ‘urgent evacuation operation’ for French Jews,” he says, because not everyone will manage to flee. According to him, a large proportion of the Jews who remain in France live in disadvantaged neighborhoods and lack the means and resources to immigrate to Israel.
As for the other half of French Jews, whose French identity is stronger than their Jewish identity, Toubiana estimates that they will remain in France but will not preserve Jewish culture, leading to the disappearance of French Jewry.
Do you feel that attitudes toward Jews have changed?
“No, violence against us is nothing new. Almost every day, a Jew is attacked in France. It escalated during the wave of terrorism in the previous decade, when a million immigrants arrived in Europe and organizations like ISIS were at their peak, and it has escalated again since October 7. I don’t think anything has changed now, and I don’t think it will calm down. They will continue attacking us until there are no Jews left here.”
How will French Jews vote in the presidential election in six months?
“Some of them won’t still be here in six months, but those who remain and identify as Jews will probably vote for Marine Le Pen because they vote based on security considerations. In Israel, you are used to voting based on security considerations; that’s how it is for you. But in France, it wasn’t like that. French Jews didn’t used to vote for a candidate who promised them security; that kind of discourse didn’t exist. Now it is the only discourse that exists. Le Pen will strengthen the police and the army, so they will vote for her. Simply because they are afraid.”