France

December 9, 2019 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Who Can Fight Antisemitism With Words?

France, which is the third-largest Jewish community after Israel and the United States, has been the focus of much antisemitism lately. Just a few days ago, 107 Jewish tombstones were desecrated with painted swastikas in Westhoffen, in the Alsace region of France. This was not an isolated incident, but more of a recurring crisis in a country that has seen a 69% increase in antisemitic acts in 2018.

As a result of the cemetery defacing, President Macron was heard saying that “Anti-Semitism is a crime and we will fight it in Westhoffen as everywhere until our dead can sleep in peace.” or “Those who attack them, even their graves, are not worthy of the idea we have of France.” or even “Jews are and make France.”

These words sound great if you isolate them. Unfortunately, you cannot do that because antisemitism never happens in a vacuum and has been plaguing the Jewish people since biblical days, and in many instances, much worse in France and other parts of Europe. Words are cheap, but even when Mr. Macron says that France will fight until her dead can sleep in peace, what is he really saying?

Don’t quote me wrong, the departed need our utmost respect and need to be in our memories. But, instead of worrying about graves, we need to implement some real reforms so that the LIVING Jews can sleep in peace and wake -up the next morning. The French track record for fighting antisemitism is pathetic at best.

in 2012, after the Toulouse massacre that took the life of a Rabbi and three students at a Jewish school, President Sarkozy had a minute of silence for the victims and spoke of actions needed to be taken. A few Islamists were arrested in the following months. No laws were passed…people eventually forgot.

Ignoring a few other acts of antisemitism, fast forward to the terrorist attack that took place at the Hyper Kosher supermarket in Paris, in January 2015, the day after the Charlie Hebdo attack. Four Jewish people died on that Friday afternoon. A massive, impressive and potentially encouraging street demonstration took place in all of France (over two million people) the following Sunday. People held hands and corporately claimed “Je suis Juif” (I am Jewish), people sang, people brought flowers. No laws were passed…people eventually forgot.

Then there was the bloody attack at the Bataclan night club in November of the same year. 90 people died at the club which was attacked because the perpetrators hated the fact that it was “owned by two Jews.” People brought more flowers and held hands again. President Hollande declared a state of emergency for a few months and asked French people to stay strong in light of terrorism. A cartoon brochure was created to help people cope with terrorism (seriously?), as well as some hashtags. No laws were passed…people eventually forgot.

After the recent cemetery desecration, President Macron wants to create an office to fight hate crimes. The office would equally fight hate crimes against Christians, Muslims and Jews. French Prime Minister Christophe Castaner said, “To profane a grave is an expression of pure hatred.” True statement, but he is missing the point. Christian or Muslim cemeteries are rarely if ever under attack, while Jewish burial sites are a constant target. A hate crime is a hate crime and France’s secularism will make every effort not to marginalize any minority…at least on paper!

In reality, the new French office against hate crimes will most likely offer lip service. Some incidents will be reported, a few people might be arrested, but seldom if ever will anybody be prosecuted to the full extent of the laws, and that is for those that are reported. Again, people will eventually forget.

Christians and Muslims might become more vocal if and when they are targeted in those attacks, but Jews have learned through continued hardships that the only way you to fight antisemitism with words is at the basic–very needed– level of education. Schools need to teach about hatred, xenophobia, and Holocaust history. Education is foundational but cannot stand on its own without a judicial system in place.

Another committee to discuss how to fight antisemitism is akin to fighting a deadly virus by quarantining the infected until they die. It never solves the problem. Only eradicating the virus does. The virus is antisemitism and it is killing the Jews. Laws must be passed AND enforced in every case until those targeting Jews fear the repercussions. Until then, the only ones fearing…and fleeing France and other parts of the world, are the Jews!

We are way beyond using words only!

March 13, 2018 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

We will not survive in this irrational world of political correctness!

I was never a fan of French Alt-Right “Front National Party” leader, Jean Marie Le Pen and I am not a fan of his daughter who currently heads that party. Marine Le Pen might be more polished and diplomatic than her father, but she still represents an ideology that is toxic to a balanced political approach to France or even Western civilization for that matter. Even though her party is thinking of re-branding and changing its name to appeal to a broader audience, they continue to promote a highly xenophobic agenda. Although she received the most votes her party ever received in its history since the mid-1970s, Marine Le Pen lost the French presidential elections in the Spring of 2017 to “Centrist” Emmanuel Macron.

These elections were upsetting on many levels. Primarily, it was horrifying to France and much of the civilized world that an Alt-Right candidate would be in the running in the second and final round of the elections. Even though she lost, she managed to garner 35% of the votes. If I were Mr. macron, I would make sure that I remember the promises made to the voters, and I try to fulfill as many as possible. Much of Europe is very unhappy with the current migrant situation and the open borders, and that includes France. Many French people–even including some from the Jewish community– voted for Marine in 2017, that would have never entertained the idea even five years ago. If Mr. Macron under-performs, it wouldn’t take much for Miss Le Pen or a successor to garner a few more points if and when they run in 2022 and tilt the scale towards a “Front National” led France, and that is terrifying! Pretty much all blacks, Arabs and Jews would end-up in a precarious situation.

The challenge with the politics of Marine Le Pen is that in the mix of her anti-immigration and somewhat racist program, she is also promoting some good ideas. But unfortunately, the voters cannot pick and choose. As would be expected, she is pretty vocal when it comes to speaking against the Islamic State and its assault on Western civilization and liberties. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want to be vocal and expose the barbaric techniques used by the Islamic State or “Daesh” (Arabic Acronym for ISIS) as the French call them? From that perspective alone, I am in full agreement with Marine Le Pen, and I support her desire to expose ISIS.

Back in 2015, she posted a few graphics pictures of ISIS at their worst on Twitter. She was making an attempt at defending her political agenda after having been accused by some of being as bad as ISIS. Nobody is as bad as ISIS! So she posted some photos with the caption “THIS is Daesh!” Again, most people would disagree with much of her ideology, but in that case, we should applaud her boldness. What happened next was the epitome of political correctness.

Miss Le Pen is now being charged for those tweets and could face up to three years in prison. Is she being charged for denouncing the gruesome cruelty of ISIS? How is that a crime unless we live in an upside-down world where the new normal is the submission to cruel Islamist ideology, putting all of us in the West at the mercy of radical Islam and its worship of death? The France of Emmanuel Macron is supposed to be on its way to defeat terrorism.

Indeed, Mr. Macron has put new laws in place to fight terrorism, giving the army and the police more power to go after potential enemies of the state. I say good for him if this is true, but when I see the drastic move made against Miss Le Pen and her tweets, I doubt that France is going in the right direction. It looks more like a generalized “witch hunt” against Miss Le Pen, rather than a genuine concern for any potential damage that here tweets would have caused.

Again, I would never vote for Miss Le Pen or anybody from Front National, but I must voice my support for her attempt at exposing ISIS for who they are while much of the Western World has its proverbial “head in the sand.” This is a slippery slope leading to slavery to an ideology opposed to Western, Judeo/Christian values, and I am convinced that we will not survive in this irrational world of political correctness!

May 8, 2017 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

Do Jews Have a Future in France Under Emmanuel Macron?

On May 7, 2017, France elected “Centrist” Emmanuel Macron as their new president for the next five years. He was running against Marine Le Pen of the Front National Alt-Right party and won with 65% of the votes. But it was two weeks ago that France truly turned a page when they brought Macron and Le Pen to the second round, thus eliminating the age old Right/Left dichotomy that the country had been used to for decades. Now what?

Mr. Macron will be sworn in exactly one week after his victory and will scramble to form a government, pulling from both sides of the establishment that his victory so boldly pushed aside. Within the next month, French people will go back to the voting booths for the “Legislative” elections. They will elect the 577 members of of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic. The next five years of Mr. Macron’s governing are hinging around the outcome of the June elections. Compromise is in the air, but how much compromise?

Emmanuel Macron re-labelled himself as a centrist, and started his new party. But all remember that he served as a Socialist minister for two years under the Hollande government. Has he truly moved towards the center of the French political spectrum? I don’t think it really matters except maybe to attract supporters from both sides in the next elections. What is more important in the writing of France’s future is how much of a globalist he is. He is a strong promoter of multiculturalism, and we know how well that has worked in the last few years. Ask the people of Germany or Sweden for example!

Paris’ largest mosque ” La Grande Mosquée de Paris” released a statement saying “It is a clear sign of hope to French Muslims that they can live in harmony and respect of French values” . Macron’s victory is good news for the 6 to 7 million Muslims of France. And that is what they are, “Muslims of France” NOT “French Muslims”, simply because the vast majority of them do not integrate. So much for multiculturalism! Mr. Macron is not a promoter of radical Islam, and of course not all Muslims espouse the Islamist ideology of death. Far from that! Yet, many of the Muslims living in France are not interested in “harmony and respect of French values.”

Under Macron, we can expect political correctness to become the rule of law, especially as it pertains to radical Islam. We will probably soon see an influx of new migrants come to the “New France.” How will that affect the 500,000 French Jews, who have already started to immigrate to Israel in large numbers over the last five years? In the near future, it would appear that the Jews of France wouldn’t be at risk. After all, over 93% of French Israeli voted for him. But is it possible that they really voted against Le Pen instead?

Jewish people have a long history of being caught between a rock and a hard place. For example, before the Maccabbean Revolt (167-160 B.C. E), Jewish people were the buffer zone between the Ptolemies (Egypt) and the Seleucids (Syria), and they suffered as a result. The Jews have been the “scapegoats” of humanity for centuries. Equally persecuted for being communists or capitalists, Jewish people are too often caught in the middle. A Le Pen victory would have been disastrous for French Jews along with Arabs, blacks and any other ethnic minority in that country, so the obvious was to elect Mr. Macron, at least for now.

Macron’s multiculturalism and globalism will do very little to stop Europe’s Islamist invasion. As much as Le Pen’s agenda was extreme in many ways, she did have the intention of controlling immigration. Macron might just open France’s borders further and allow for thousands of unchecked migrants. Once again, the French Jewish community is at risk, even if the vast majority voted for Macron. It appears that they were more interested in putting a bandage on France’s wounds instead of amputating the infected limb. Time will tell, but what do you really expect from a French president who claims “there is no such thing as French culture?”

Under Le Pen, French Jews would have started to make Aliyah immediately. Under Macron, they might have a little more time. But France just surrendered to multiculturalism on May 7, 2017. It is up to Emmanuel Macron to fight the good fight. It isn’t even clear if he has identified it or even agreed there is a fight at all. The future is unstable for French Jews, but if Mr. Macron doesn’t turn France around, the future will be very uncertain for all of France. As a result, Marine Le Pen who garnered 35% of the French votes in 2017 could be a shoe-in in 2022 and then, whatever is left of the French Jewish community will have very little time to leave.

September 23, 2016 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

Go ahead, build a security wall…Unless of course you are Israel!

Most people have heard about the Great Wall of China, started in the 7th century AD and continued for almost 1,000 years. It was built to originally protect China from repeated Eurasian invasions and continued to be used for border control over the centuries. It measures over 13,000 miles, which is no small feat.

A much smaller wall is currently being erected in the northwest part of France in the town of Calais. It has already been dubbed “The Great Wall of Calais.” This new wall is being completely financed by recently “Brexited” Britain, hoping to protect their autonomy and borders from unwanted, illegal migrants. Calais is situated on the shores of northwestern France and has been a seaport connection between the UK and France for a very long time. Much business has been generated through that two-way venue, as well as much human traffic for work, tourism AND immigration. But lately, it is the immigration aspect of the human ebb and flow that is attracting attention. Britain is worried by the constant influx of African and Middle-Eastern migrants on the shores of Dover.

Thousands of recent migrants congregate in Calais in an area known as “The Jungle.” It is unsafe, unsanitary and very difficult to control. France appears determined to put an end to the camps. In the meantime, Britain is building the wall and “flipping the bill.” Reaction to this 4 feet high mass of concrete along both sides of the road leading to the port has been less than favorable. Even though the wall won’t come to completion until the end of 2016, many think that it is a waste of time, space and money. But the concern is real as migrants build barricades daily to slow down the many trucks on that road and hitch a ride to the other side of the Channel illegally. The area has even been declared a “no-go zone” at night.

The Wall at Calais might or might not become a deterrent for illegal migrants; time will tell. In the meantime, it is receiving a lot of controversial press as well as many opinions about its efficacy or lack of. But one thing that nobody is too concerned about is the potential breech of human rights, unethical aspect of the wall or apartheid attitude of France and/or Britain, like let’s say…..Israel!

Israel has been working on their security fence/wall for several years since 2003. Hundreds of lives have already been saved because of the fence. It has been a very difficult diplomatic and political battle for Israel, constantly accused of being an “Apartheid State.” Comparing Israel to South Africa is far from honest since Apartheid in South Africa was based on racial tension and falsely assumed elitism, while Israel has been building its wall solely for security reasons. Protecting Israeli citizens–which incidentally include many arabs–has been at the forefront of the wall agenda. I am convinced that if Palestinians stopped the bombings, stabbings and suicide attacks, the wall could and probably would go down.

The double-standard used regarding the building of walls (including the recent one started by Saudi Arabia to also protect itself from ISIS terrorists) is upholding. France and England build a wall to protect themselves from illegal migrants who most likely include sleeper ISIS members, and that’s OK! Saudi Arabia builds a 600 miles wall to keep ISIS out, and that’s OK! So why is Israel building a wall to keep terrorists out considered to be a human rights violation?

Israel is the ONLY Jewish state in the world. It is the Jewish State from a political perspective (1948), but from a biblical standpoint, it has also been the Jewish land for several thousands of years prior to that time. It appears as if the whole world is continuing to build its wall around Israel to ostracize the Jewish people into a 21st century ghetto. That’s the most unethical, dangerous and hateful wall of them all, but nobody really says a word or even cares about that one!

November 17, 2015 By Olivier Melnick 4 Comments

France’s Second Chance to lead the War against Apocalyptic Islam!

On Friday November 13, 2015, France was hit by yet another series of terrorist attacks in Paris, claiming the lives of 129 innocent people in several locations practically simultaneously. I had just returned from my biannual ministry trip to France four days prior, on the 9th of November. On the 7th, my wife and I attended a concert in Paris in a place as frequented and as famous as the Bataclan. Almost everyday of our stay we ate meals at restaurants and bistros near the attacked venues. The victims were the 129, but it could have easily been us or it could have easily been you!

It was only nine months ago that the whole world joined France in the mourning of the 17 Charlie Hebdo/Hyper Cacher victims. Hashtags like #jesuischarlie and #jesuisjuif abounded. Flowers and candle memorials kept growing on Paris sidewalks and of course there was the 4 million people march on January 11. France had woken up to the sad reality that apocalyptic Islam had hit them hard. Freedom of Speech at Charlie Hebdo was hit hard, but also Freedom of Religion at Hyper Cacher. Days later, Prime minister Manuel Vals delivered a very poignant speech to the French National Assembly in defense of the Jewish community and vowing to go to war against terrorism. I was hopeful that things would change but I didn’t hold my breath. The world continued to placate the comforting hashtags on all social networks. It was the warm and fuzzy appropriate thing to do. It was a time when the planet was united with France and its Jewish community. Well, virtually united I should add, but you don’t fight a war with hashtags and candle vigils. Unfortunately, the world’s attention span is only as long as the next Super Bowl, Hollywood hit or iPhone iteration. And so, we went our merry way, quickly forgetting France and its crisis with terrorism.

But what about France itself? What was really accomplished in the aftermath of the January attacks? Not much I fear. Sure, there were some foiled attacks here and there, some arrests and even search warrants. But soon after the emotional and seemingly determined speeches, politics returned and it was business as usual. The different political parties would rather be blinded by petty disagreements than catch a common vision on how to fight the real enemy. By real enemy, I am not speaking of global warming here but the global WARNING of apocalyptic Islam. Don’t misunderstand me for saying that France doesn’t care about the attacks. I think the French people care very much and to an extent even the government does too. But there is a strange behavior resulting from a hydrid of denial, fear and political correctness. And so it goes with France…another day, another euro!

It was obvious to all that another attack would take place. That it would be so soon and so intense wasn’t expected. The use of explosive belts brought terrorism on French soil to an all new level. And of course, for once it would appear as if the targets weren’t Jews. This is in no way any relief, but simply an observation. I just want to point out that flexing under Islamic threats, Palestinian social justice demands and/or BDS rulings will not stop the enemy. According to Winston Churchill, appeasement is akin to feeding a crocodile hoping it will eat you last. Well, France, on November 13 the crocodile just bit off your hand! Now what?

France was devastated last January and had a chance to take action with the kind of authority and leadership that would have led the free world into an all out war against apocalyptic Islam. That ship has sailed! But now it returns as an armada and with a vengeance, because the Islamic State hates France and all that it represents. It probably goes back to the early 1800s and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after the French Revolution of 1789. Looking back nine months, France was mostly all bark and no bite after the January attacks. Today it has a second opportunity to stop evil. This isn’t going to be an overnight feat but rather a concerted international effort that could take 20 years. France could actually lead the way if they put their euros where their mouth is!

On the Monday following the carnage, French President François Hollande spoke in front of the Congress in a room in Versailles that hadn’t been used since 1955. It was indeed historic, but it remains to be seen if the outcome will be positive or negative. Mr. Hollande opened his speech by declaring:” France is at war!” He had the Congress’ attention and he had mine as well. Contrary to Mr. Obama who one day before the attack said that the Islamic State was contained. Soon after, Mr. Obama declared that what happened in Paris was a set-back. A set-back to what, the Middle Ages? Mr. Hollande on the other hand, affirmed that ISIS had to be destroyed. Not slowed down, not stopped, not talked to…but destroyed! I couldn’t agree more. He was speaking one day after having sent fighter jets to bomb strategic ISIS location in Syria. Good for you Mr. Hollande. Please keep on, don’t stop now. They must be eradicated.

In the meantime, may I suggest that you close your borders or at the very least strictly enforce border control. Forget about the accusation of profiling, we are way past that. May I also suggest that you seriously limit the intake of migrants into France (and all of Europe for that matter)? It is now proven that one of the Paris terrorists came to France through the Greek island of Lesbos invisible and untraceable in a wave of refugees. This open-door policy spearheaded by Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel is now showing us how easy it is for ISIS to infiltrate Europe. And finally, please close all the mosques that are instrumental in the radicalization of other Muslims. Incidentally, there are between 5,000 and 6,000 imams in France alone and only 1–the Imam of Drancy– came out to denounce the terrorist attacks of November 13. Muslims of the world, if you want us to make a distinction between moderate Islam and radical Islam, then please speak up against the terror attacks of November 13–not to mention many others worldwide– otherwise your silence will speak for you.

France is at a critical crossroads for the second time in one year. How many more terrorist attacks by ISIS will it take, in France or anywhere else, for us to take them seriously? Protect synagogues and Jewish schools and they attack a stadium, restaurants and a concert hall. Protect these venues and they will attack a movie theater, a mall or amusement park…and the list goes on! Too many innocent lives are destroyed by people who glorify death. My ultimate prayer is that they would truly have a change of heart and meet the true God of the universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through His Messiah Yeshua. It is a difficult prayer to pray but we must not stop praying. Prayer can change them, but if they do not change they must be stopped. This is France’s second chance to fight the war against Islamic terrorism and it might very well be Europe’s last chance!

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