Very few Jews will attend a memorial for terror victims in France, despite the fact that a disproportionately high percentage of those murdered were Jews.
By: Ben Kerstein, The Algemeiner
Despite the disturbingly high number of terror attacks on French Jews in recent years, there will be little or no Jewish presence at this year’s ceremonies marking a national day of mourning for French terror victims, because it falls on September 19 — Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
Chief Rabbi of France Haim Korsia told Makor Rishon he has participated in previous such ceremonies, at one of which he heard “the emotional and sad testimony of my good friend Shmuel Sandler,” a father and grandfather of victims of the 2012 massacre at a Jewish school in Toulouse.
This year will be different, but “I asked the rabbis to add a special prayer for the victims of the terror attacks that struck our country. This is our way to connect with the events that take place on a national level.”
The chief rabbi stated that the date of the national ceremony may be changed in the coming years, and he has asked for it to be moved to the month of March.
The president of the French chapter of B’nai B’rith, Philippe Meyer, tweeted, “It is unacceptable to us that they will not allow Jewish families, who are victims of French terror, to participate in the national ceremony for victims of terror because it takes place on Yom Kippur.”
An anonymous source in the French-Jewish community was quoted lamenting the community’s inability to assert itself over such issues, saying, “The Jewish community proves once again that it is not capable of standing up for itself.”