Without French Jews, he declared, “France is not France.”Valls’ words met great waves of applause. Near the fifth anniversary of his speech, however, the applause has given way to deepening fears and doubts among French Jews. Rather than leaving France for Israel, large numbers of French Jews are instead leaving suburban for urban France. THE UNTHINKABLE QUESTIONJews became full citizens of France after the Revolution, in 1791, and since that time, French Jews have been fond of exclaming “Happy like God in France.” For generations, France without Jews seemed as inconceivable as Jews without France. Yet he also notes that the trend, though diffuse, has been constant: “Jews are discretely leaving France, leaving one by one.”

Source: The North Africa Journal February 04, 2020 13:41 UTC