My soul is among lions, I do lie down among them that are aflame; even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. (Psalms 57:4)
According to French Jewish community leader Roger Cukierman, the majority of French Jewish families send their children to private school because they fear the growing anti-Semitism prevalent in public schools.
According to The Times of Israel, Anti-Semitism “affects Jewish families very seriously and is the main reason there are so few Jewish children in public schools,” Cukierman, president of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities, said Tuesday during a symposium on anti-Semitism at the European Parliament. “Most of them go to Jewish or Christian private schools.”
French Jews emerged from the survey as most concerned by anti-Semitism, with 85 percent of 1,137 respondents from France describing it as a “big problem.” Among British respondents, 48 percent answered similarly.
Perceptions of increasing anti-Semitism over the past five years were most widespread among French Jews, with 74 percent of respondents saying it has “increased a lot” compared to 27 percent in Britain. Among French respondents, 46 percent said they have considered emigrating because of anti-Semitism compared to 18 percent in Sweden, Latvia and Britain.
“Jews do not feel comfortable in France and across Europe,” Cukierman said. “Top-down attempts to ban circumcision and kosher slaughter compound the effect of bottom-up anti-Semitism.”