Arab demonstrators surrounded a synagogue in Vitry, a Paris suburb, on the second day of Rosh Hashanah shouting anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic slogans.
The president of the Vitry Jewish community, Dr. Maurice Ruah told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the city police in the Communist-controlled municipality had acted to protect the synagogue but in what seemed a half hearted manner. He said better police protection was provided after two Deputy Mayors, both Socialists, were alerted and visited the site.
There are some 750 Jewish families, some 4,000 people, in the large working-class suburb in Vitry in the south of Paris. The mayor, a Communist, took a strong anti-Arab stand before the last legislative elections in an apparent bid to win extreme right votes. Since then, say members of the local Jewish community, he has taken a strong anti-Israeli stand in what seems an effort to “clean the slate.”
Ruah said the municipality is responsible for the anti-Israeli climate which was conducive to the demonstration. He said the synagogue, which was not damaged, was actually defended by local Jewish defense groups. There were no reports of other incidents during the Rosh Hashanah holiday.
Throughout Paris and France synagogues were jammed for Rosh Hashanah services and synagogue officials say they have an unprecedented number of requests for Yom Kippur seats in synagogues and improvised temples operating during the High Holy Days to accommodate the exceptionally large number of worshippers.
Some observers in the Jewish community believe that the heightened wave of Jewish identification and upsurge of Jewish tradition coincides with the end of the war in Lebanon and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Beirut area. Many Jews, observers note, feel this to be an appropriate time to express their solidarity with Israel and their pride in being Jewish.
President Francois Mitterrand sent a Rosh Hashanah message assuring France’s 700,000 Jews that his government is pledged to do the utmost to ensure the community’s safety and well being. Chief Rabbi Rene Sirat responded by calling for stronger measures to combat racism and anti-Semitism.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
