According to the Jewish victim’s relatives, the 73-year-old who is held in high regard within the local Jewish community was stabbed and beaten, and his home ransacked. Police say it’s too early to say if the man was killed simply for being a Jew, however the national bureau for vigilance against anti-Semitism said: “Even if it is perhaps a financially motivated crime, (we) are asking for everything to be done to explore all avenues, including that of Islamist terrorists and anti-Semites.”
Ghozland’s slaying occurred in a suburb of Paris as a 15-year old supporter of ISIL was due to appear before a judge on Wednesday to face terror charges after he attacked a Jewish teacher with a machete in Marseille and bragged to police that “he was proud of it.” The attacks occurred a year after the Charlie Hebdo and Paris kosher supermarket attacks in January 2015. The supermarket attack saw four Jewish victims murdered in the Hyper Cacher store while there was a total of 17 deaths in both attacks. While terrorist attacks across Europe are increasing, there is a clear trend of Jews being targeted as Middle East Muslim refugees rush European borders. Today, Muslims make up between eight and 10 percent of the French population depending on the poll.
From January to May of 2015, 508 antiSemitic crimes were recorded in France, a rise of 84 per cent juxtaposed to 2014 figures from the same months. Islamic terrorists struck France again November 13 of 2015 in a series of coordinated Islamic terrorist attacks on Paris and its northern suburb, Saint-Denis. The gruesome attacks at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, followed by suicide bombings and mass shootings at cafés, restaurants, and a concert hall in Paris left 130 dead including 89 at the Bataclan theatre. A total of 368 others were wounded. Muslim terrorist attacks in France are being credited to various Muslim organizations. The Charlie Hebdo attack is thought to have been carried out by al-Qaeda followers while ISIS claimed responsibility for the November attacks. While Muslim extremists are attacking men women and children of random ethnic backgrounds, smaller, more frequent attacks are trending against Jews.
The anti-Semitic and increasingly violent environment has sparked fearful warnings that Jews must hide their Semitic identities. For example, parents in the southern city of Marseille – where Monday’s attack on a teacher “in the name of Allah” was just the latest in a number of recent anti-Semitic incidents and attacks – have begun urging their sons to wear baseball caps and leave their kippas at home.
However politicians like French President Francois Hollande say it is “intolerable” for French Jews to have to hide away out of fear of attack. On the other hand, recent terror attacks on the country have all citizens on guard and wary of government efforts to protect them from Islamic terrorists; still, many Jews feel less safe since they have too often been targeted by terrorists on the streets of Marseille, Paris and beyond.
