Some experts blame the violence against Jews on the growth of radical Islamic movements, noting that impoverished Muslims feel they have become the victims of institutionalized racism and see the Jewish community as more affluent and better integrated than they are.
Dr. Gilles Kepel, a Muslim and the director of the French Centre for Sociological Research, suggested in an interview with the Arab magazine Ain-Al-Yaqeen that a majority of these radical movements are the result of an alliance between poor urban Muslim youth, the Muslims of the petite bourgeoisie (who feel marginalized and excluded from political privileges), and those he calls the ‘bearded engineers,’ or graduates of state universities, who distort the broad tenets of Islam to serve their political needs.
Other French Muslims, like the deputy mayor of Sannois in Val d’Oise, Rachid Kaci, encourage the cultivation of an Islam that is cut off from extremist influences and are outspoken against anti-Semitism.
These radical movements are encouraged by various cooperating associations, Kaci says. Fundamentalist proselytizers diligently work the housing projects and the prisons in France for new converts. With monies obtained from Saudi Arabian subsidies, and donations from a sincerely pious community, the Union of French Islamic Organization (UOIF) appeals to the unemployed North African Muslims in the ghettos, providing an alternative social-service network that is often better than anything else available.
Laila Al-Qatami, the spokesperson for the American-Arab anti-Discrimination League cited earlier, agrees that North African immigrants in France are responsible for a number of the attacks on Jews, though she says it’s important to acknowledge that anti-Semitic attacks have also been committed by right-wing extremists who attack Muslims as well. A number of these groups from the far right identify themselves as members of Le Pen’s National Front.
But some observers, including Weekly Standard senior editor Christopher Caldwell, say there is also a ‘new anti-Semitism’ on the Left that has practically nothing to do with Le Pen. “In fact, its most dangerous practitioners,” according to Caldwell, ?are to be found among the very crowds thronging the streets to protest him.”
Dr. Charles Jacobs, president of the David Project in Boston, adds that the European Left’s adoption of ‘Palestinianism’ as its banner exacerbates hatred of Jews.
“Many Europeans like to portray the Israelis as Nazis, as it functions as a salve for their own Holocaust consciences,” Jacobs says. As a result, the Jews of Europe are caught in what Jacobs calls a ‘pincer’ between Europe’s radical Muslims and the Left.
“This same pincer is forming on American college campuses, and Jewish defense organizations are only now beginning to appreciate the full seriousness of the situation,” Jacobs says.
Worldwide Phenomenon
Statistics indicate that the U.S. has experienced its own increase in reported anti-Semitism. “There were 1559 anti-Semitic cases reported in the U.S. last year, which is up eight percent from the year before,” says Aaron Brietbart, senior researcher at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “Many of the events grew out of anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses.”
The Anti-Defamation League also reports an increase in pro-Palestinian rallies across the U.S., which the organization says go far beyond legitimate criticism of Israel to promote anti-Semitic hatred and anti-Israel sentiment.
Daniel Pipes warns that France offers a preview of what things could look like in the U.S. if there were a substantial increase in the Muslim population here, or if a population outside of the political mainstream were to gain political power.
Pipes contends that while some are public and others discreet, every militant Islamic organization throughout the globe preaches anti-Semitism and nearly all refer to a battle to the death with Jews. The assassination of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, filmed by Islamist executioners who forced him to look into the camera and confess his Jewish origin before they beheaded him, is one of many examples.
