During the past three weeks in France, there have been more than 60 documented anti-Semitic incidents, including Molotov cocktails thrown at synagogues, and the Judeo-Muslim Friendship Association has dissolved, with Muslim officials resigning “because their Jewish counterparts didn’t openly condemn Israel for its operations.” However, Shirli Sitbon points to the positive results in France:
If the crisis in the Middle East taught us anything, it’s that facade dialogue is useless. Uniting to settle kashrut and halal issues or to condemn Jerusalem gay pride is not really a breakthrough. France needs a genuine Judeo-Muslim dialogue between religious and secular leaders.
And the crisis showed us that these leaders exist and who they are.
While tens of thousands demonstrated in the streets, a number of Muslim leaders refused to join them and repeated that France had to stay away from the conflict, while respecting each others’ views on the conflict.
French minister Fadela Amara, a strong secular figure in charge of the impoverished suburbs, gathered in her ministry various associations to discuss and organize the battle against anti-Semitism and racism. This wasn’t surprising, as Amara, who had strongly supported the Geneva initiative a few years back, has been fighting for tolerance and against sexism in France for years with her women’s association, Ni Putes Ni Soumises.
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