Hundreds (sadly not thousands) of French Jews and their supporters in Paris called for justice for murdered Jewish woman, Sarah Hallimi, a retired physician and schoolteacher.
In an astonishing decision, the court of appeal ruled that her attacker was “not criminally responsible” for his actions because her killer has suffered a psychotic episode after a massive use of cannabis. The judges ruled that anti-Semitism was not a factor. The killer shouted “ I killed the demon after he threw her body onto the building’s courtyard. Prior to killing Ms. Hallimi, the murderer on many occasions previously had insulted the woman and would spit on the ground when she passed by.
The most dangerous place to be a Jew in Europe is France according to a two-year report on anti-Semitism in 11 European Countries, conducted by former NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Attacks against Jews rose 74% from 2007-2018.
Kelly wrote that the French government has done very little to provide French Jewry with confidence that they will be protected on a sustained basis.
After the Appeal Court’s ruling, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish institutions asked the Procurer General of Paris “is there only law and no justice in our country.”
Anti-Semitism in France rose sharply during the Second Intifada in Israel. A significant proportion of the second-generation Muslim immigrant population in France now identifies with the Palestinian causes.
In response the number of French Jews immigrating to Israel now outnumbers the number of American Jews who are immigrating.
At the beginning of the 2000 France had an estimate 500,000-600,000 Jews, most of them Sephardic and of North African origin. They immigrated to France mostly from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. France has the third highest Jewish population in the world behind the United States and Israel.
Originally published in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune
