Commemoration Shabbat dinner in memory of the Toulouse Jewish victims OBM
By French Jewish student, Joachim Behar, Balliol College, Oxford
As a French Jewish student living in Oxford, I have been asked to say a few words about the recent tragic events that occurred in France as a way of commemorating the Jewish victims of last week’s terrorist attack in Toulouse. Last Monday, a professor of Jewish studies - a rabbi - and three children were killed in the morning in front of a Jewish high school in Toulouse. A young man aged 17 was also seriously injured and his condition is critical. This attack followed a similar attack directed towards three soldiers in Toulouse and Montauban, who were also killed a few days earlier.
As is well known, the Jewish world is very small indeed. In fact, I have a cousin who goes to this very school in Toulouse and my uncle, her father, was in the school when it happened and is in shock, as may be expected. So here are a few personal words about the tragic incident and its affect on the Jewish community living in Toulouse.
My uncle, Jean Louis, cancelled two days of work to help care for the families who have been affected by the killing and are now in mourning. Together with my aunt, they offered accommodation to three out-of-town students, from amongst forty, 16 and 17 year olds, who were evacuated from the school for their protection following the attacks. One of these was a student who tried to rescue the daughter of the headmaster, after the terrorist shot her at point-blank range while filming, by attempting mouth to mouth resuscitation to no avail. The student is obviously in great shock.
As mentioned, in addition to those killed, another 17 year old student is still in hospital and is a friend of Deborah, my cousin. His name is unknown due to security. My aunt has tried to visit him for the last two days, but the hospital is crowded with police. President Sarkozy has visited him twice.
Amongst those killed in the Toulouse Jewish high school killing were Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, his two children, Gabriel 3, and Aryeh 6, and daughter of the head master, Miryam Monsonego 8, of blessed memory.
The wife of the Rabbi who died with his two children made a short speech to notify the pupils and parents at the school that she could no longer provide Jewish study instructions after these events and then fainted, as she still has a baby of 18 months to care for alone. She related that her husband also went to this school in Toulouse when he was younger; he later immigrated to Israel, and then they returned in September 2011 for 2 years to teach Jewish studies in the school, only to be shot in a tragic act of terrorism.
I hope their commemoration will help ensure that actions will be taken to prevent such atrocities from occurring again in the future against Jews in France or anywhere else in the world.
I would like to share a few thoughts and personal experiences about Jewish life in France. There are about 500.000 Jews in France - the third largest Jewish community after Israel and the US.
Strikingly, this event happened just a month after the government report "le service de protection de la communaute Juive" was released attesting to a decrease of 16.5% of acts of anti-Semitism in France in 2011 compared to 2010, though these figures only refer to those reported to the police. Some have suggested that the decrease might be deceptive as it could be seen as synonymous with trivialization.
It is important to recall in this context the tragic 'Affaire Halimi' in 2006. Ilane Halimi, a young Jewish boy, was kidnapped in the Paris area and tortured in January 2006 by a group of twenty people calling themselves the "gang of barbarians" led by Youssouf Fofana. Their choice was Ilan Halimi because of his affiliation with the Jewish community, who they believed were rich and would pay a ransom for his release.
The Toulouse incident has also political ramifications, as it comes at a time when France is just a month before the presidential election. In particular, Marine le Pen, a candidate of the 'National Front' was heard saying on French radio after the killing: "we should have been watching out for this green fascism that is developing in our country... since ten years there is an increase of Islamism in our country.. there are district controlled by extremist... it is time to put an end to that". Many believe she might be correct and it is likely to be represented in the results of the upcoming elections.
On a personal level, I have my own personal experiences with anti-Semitism in France. I have been insulted because I am Jewish, and once rocks, albeit small ones, just to frighten us, were thrown at my father and me. I have heard similar stories from other people in the community in my home city of Grenoble, and I believe many Jews in France have experienced minor acts of anti-Semitism.
Can one predict the future of the French Jewish community? Well, it would be sensible to say that this will encourage a desire to immigrate to Israel, though recent history has proven that despite incidents such as these, no major change can be anticipated. In fact, the numbers immigrating to Israel from France have actually decreased over the past few years, even after 'l'affaire Halimi'. It remains to be seen what will happen in the future with French Jewry after these tragic events in Toulouse.
In conclusion, as a French Jewish student studying in Oxford, it is not with pride that I am talking tonight about my home country but with a certain disappointment that these types of things are happening in France today. On a positive note, however, there have been a number of actions taken by national and local Jewish bodies to make sure that measures are taken to better protect the French Jewish community, and all the political parties seem to have demonstrated their strong support for the well being and security of the French Jewish community.