What Are Sayanim?
The most dangerous conspiracy theories start with a germ of truth that can make them difficult to identify and condemn.
21
Nov
13
Sep
Deep Dive | More Jews Murdered in France
What explains the rise in antisemitic violence in the past 20 years in France, and what can the government do about it?
13
Apr
The Rise of Antisemitism in France with French Journalist Marc Weitzmann and Robert Siegel
French journalist Marc Weitzmann, author of Hate: The Rising Tide of Anti-Semitism in France in conversation with Robert Siegel, Moment special literary contributor and former senior host of NPR’s All Things Considered, about the history and current state of anti-Semitism facing the Jews of France.
This program is hosted by Moment Magazine with the support of the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation.
20
Nov
The Colmar Treasure: Bringing Jewish Life Into Medieval Art
Until recently, the Met Cloisters, situated at the top of a peaceful hill in Fort Tryon Park in the middle of Manhattan’s bustling Washington Heights—a neighborhood with multiple synagogues and many Jewish residents—predominantly featured medieval Christian art and architecture. In July, however, the museum opened “The Colmar Treasure: A Medieval Jewish Legacy,” a small yet poignant exhibit featuring jeweled rings, a cache of silver coins and other precious possessions belonging to a single family in the once-flourishing 14th-century Jewish community of Colmar.
The treasure was discovered by workmen in 1863 during the renovation of a confectionery shop on the rue des Juifs (“Street of the Jews”) in Colmar, a city on the Rhine River in modern-day eastern France. One of the treasure’s highlights, an elaborate medieval Jewish wedding ring with the words “Mazel Tov” spelled out...
15
Jan
Rising Anti-Semitism and the Charlie Hebdo Massacre
For the French-Jewish community, last week's attacks were a confirmation of their worst fears. After a year of rising anti-Jewish violence—attacks on Jewish families, synagogue firebombings, anti-Semitic marches—Jews are now fleeing Paris in record numbers, according to news reports. French authorities have acknowledged the severity of the situation, deploying thousands of police officers to protect Jewish schools and other “sensitive sites.”
But is anti-Semitism really the main problem? We asked Michel Gurfinkiel, founder and president of the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Institute, a conservative think tank, and a Shillman/Ginsburg Fellow at Middle East Forum.—Rachel E. Gross
When it comes to last week's attacks, how much are people in France focusing on the role of anti-Semitism?
The events of last week were of gigantic proportion, politically. But what was important was not that it was an anti-Jewish massacre, but that it was a massacre at the...
08
Aug
Strauss-Kahn—Still Bad For The Jews?
By Theodore Samets
The idea that France was set to have a Jewish president before the United States sounded weird, anyway.
Of course, some might argue that the current holder of the office, Nicolas Sarkozy, is himself Jewish; his son even married a nice Jewish girl a few years ago.
But Dominique Strauss-Kahn has turned out to be too good to be true. Strauss-Kahn, as anyone who has ventured out in public in the past three months knows, was the managing director of the International Monetary Fund and front-runner for the French presidency until he allegedly attempted to rape a housekeeper in his New York Sofitel hotel suite.
The Manhattan district attorney’s allegations against DSK were splashed across the cover of every newspaper in New York. His bail was set at $6 million. As New York magazine puts it this week...
10
Mar
Lessons for Germany's Turks from France's Jews
By Symi Rom-Rymer
In the midst of cheering crowds and booming music at an auditorium in Düsseldorf, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Turkish audience of 10,000 to "integrate…into German society but don't assimilate. No one has the right to deprive us of our culture and our identity." Later he said, “I am here to show that you're not alone!...You are part of Germany, but you are also part our great Turkey." The response inside the hall was jubilant. Throngs of people shouted out “Turkey is great!” and waved Turkish flags. In the words of one audience member, Erdogan is “their savior.”
Erdogan’s visit comes at a time of particular upheaval for Germany, where an ongoing debate over the meaning of Turkish assimilation. Anti-Muslim feeling is strong. One of...
10
Mar
Lessons for Germany’s Turks from France’s Jews
By Symi Rom-Rymer
In the midst of cheering crowds and booming music at an auditorium in Düsseldorf, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Turkish audience of 10,000 to "integrate…into German society but don't assimilate. No one has the right to deprive us of our culture and our identity." Later he said, “I am here to show that you're not alone!...You are part of Germany, but you are also part our great Turkey." The response inside the hall was jubilant. Throngs of people shouted out “Turkey is great!” and waved Turkish flags. In the words of one audience member, Erdogan is “their savior.”
Erdogan’s visit comes at a time of particular upheaval for Germany, where an ongoing debate over the meaning of Turkish assimilation. Anti-Muslim feeling is strong. One of...
17
Feb
Anti-Semitic Auto-complete?
By Symi Rom-Rymer
Journalist Stéphane Foucart posed an interesting question in a recent article in the French daily paper, Le Monde: what can Google tell us about our prejudices? Intrigued by an earlier piece in Télérama, a weekly French magazine, that pointed out that the word ‘Jew’ often appeared in the Google search drop-down menu when someone typed in the name of almost any French top media executive or public leader, Foucart undertook his own unscientific study; producing the same outcome.
Based on this experiment, he took the results as a sign that the canard that Jews run the media or exert undue influence on French politics still hold sway among the general population. He furthermore argues that this is uniquely a French problem since the word ‘Jew’ did not come up in the American or Spanish...
03
Feb
The Hypocrisy of Boycotting
by Daniel Hoffman
Many European and American students are familiar with academic boycotts of Israel, campaigns which emerged in the United Kingdom in the midst of the second Intifada and resurface from time to time on campuses when an “Israeli topic” is debated. These are occasions for pro-Palestinian activists to demonstrate and ask for relations with Israeli universities to be banned.
Recently, two events in France have reinvigorated these old and passionate debates. The first episode was the cancellation of French pop singer Vanessa Paradis’ concert in Tel Aviv, probably a result of political pressures (though her agent claimed it was for professional reasons). Similar cases have happened in the past with other Western artists, such as Elvis Costello and Gorillaz.
The second event took place in one of France’s most prestigious universities, the Ecole Normale...