Visit to Paris cafes finds not everything’s terrible

My trip to canvass the mood of French Jews began in Israeli-owned restaurant Balagan, near the Louvre. Emmanuelle Mary, a non-Jewish Parisian marketing professional, took me there.

The bar had a cool Tel Aviv vibe, with bartenders shouting “Shalom” as they handed out free chasers. Food offerings fused Mediterranean-Jewish-French favorites: hummus, roasted eggplant, fattoush salad. The place was full.

Jewish media, Israeli politicians, and community leaders paint a picture of a France Jews are leaving in droves. Several incidents have triggered this: the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket attack in conjunction with the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo publication; the brutal murder of Sarah Halimi in her apartment in 2017; the gruesome burning of an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, Mireille Knoll, in 2018. More recently, anti-Semites affiliated with the yellow vest movement attacked philosopher Alain Finkielkraut and, around the same time, 80 gravestones were desecrated with swastikas in the Alsace region.

Mary said she never thought much about Jews or Israel before she began working with Jewish clients three years ago. The average French person, she felt, doesn’t have violent intentions, but may joke about Jewish money and power. She visited Israel for the first time last year. Since then, she started paying attention.

“Feeling judged is just the beginning,” she said.

French people, like other Europeans, have been inculcated by media distortions about Israel, which plays into attitudes towards Jews.

“When you read the news, it’s always the Israelis guilty of killing Palestinians. It’s not that Gaza attacked, and Israel retaliated,” she said.

Mary hopes to learn more so that she can better argue against such distortions. At Balagan, however, there’s no arguing. Just Parisians enjoying a Tel Aviv outpost.

Another Tel Aviv-like hotspot, this one in the Marais Jewish quarter. Gourmet pita chain Miznon, founded by Israeli chef Eyal Shani, is packed with people eager to partake of Israeli cuisine — in this case, grilled goodies in pitas. The bohemian-looking tattooed French Jew sporting a chai necklace at the counter was not fazed by warnings of rising French anti-Semitism.

“There’s anti-Semitism everywhere,” said Vincent Boaz as he served a stream of customers. “We are Jews. French Jews can feel it in France,” though he noted that “American Jews and German Jews also feel it. But we’re still standing.”

Across from Miznon sits L’As du Falafel, considered one of the best falafel joints in town. Photos of Israel fearlessly decorate the wall. The crowd is international; I even spot a woman in a hijab, which did not surprise the waiter, who said “cousins” come all the time.

Meir, a 23-year-old sitting in a booth, spoke on condition of anonymity. After immigrating to Israel and serving in the Israel Defense Forces, he came back to Paris. He wants to go back one day, he says, but out of love for Israel, not fear.

“In France, there’s a place for Jews, just as there’s a place for other religions. It’s a free country,” he said. “It’s dangerous everywhere in the world. Two years ago, there was an attack with more than 300 dead — not against Jews.”

He means the massacre at the Bataclan concert hall in 2015, which left 130 dead and nearly 500 injured. The need for security in France, he said, mirrors the need for security in Israel.

Walking distance from this food quarter is the Museum of Jewish Art and History, as well as a memorial commemorating the roundup of around 76,000 of French Jews during the Holocaust by French authorities in collaboration with the Nazis.

There’s consensus on one thing: French media seems to incite people against Israel, and by extension Jews, with its skewed reporting.

Most French Jews and analysts, like British-born Dr. Shimon Samuels of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, say safety is relative to location. In the suburbs, known for a growing low-income migrant population, Jews and other ethnic groups have been pushed out, fearing anti-Semitism and general disregard for Western values that such migrants bring.

“There is a heavily Jewish population outside of Paris, Sarcelles,” Samuels said from his office in a heavily guarded Jewish community center. “It was wonderful. Many synagogues from different communities. Today, Sarcelles is much more difficult. It’s a place where, for example, during the 2014 Gaza operation, you had huge marches in Paris.”

But, he warned on a more general level: “This isn’t a question of violence. As Jews, they’re self-effacing because lack of neutrality for the word ‘Jew’.” The word ‘Jew,’ he said, evokes emotions that go back centuries.

Within a mile radius of his office are an array of kosher shops and restaurants. Michael Amsalem, an immigrant to Israel visiting Paris for a wedding, points out that they’re all packed. We sat at the Cook Restaurant, where you can enjoy a kosher hamburger for 20 euros (about $22.50), surrounded by a portrait of Jerusalem.

Amsalem, an organizational consultant, made it very clear that he left France out of Zionist values. He fears more for the spiritual safety of French Jews.

“You have a lot of hate on the Internet,” he said. “Against Jews and Israel. What do you do? Instead of simply complaining, ask for practical solutions.”

But Amsalem believes that solutions involve a transformation in French Judaism, not necessarily leaving for Israel — a trend that is in decline. According to statistics from the Jewish Agency, the peak of French aliyah occurred in 2014, with 7,240 new immigrants, compared to 3,299 in 2013. In 2015, 7,892 left France, followed by 5,127 in 2016 and 3,556 in 2017. It is estimated that about 500,000 Jews live in France.

According to Amsalem, French Jews relate to Judaism as a persecuted religion, rather than as a thriving people or civilization. In France, he knows of few advanced institutes for Jewish learning that delve into the depths of Jewish philosophy and spirituality. French-Jewish rights organizations are often afraid of coming out too strongly for Jewish interests.

“In France, you have to be French, officially French,” he said. “The only way Jews have access to public media is through anti-Semitism.”

French Jews, he said, must move away from a victim mentality, and start embracing the richness of positive Jewish identity. American and British Jews life can provide examples.

“The message of the Jews should not necessarily be anti-Semitic history. Instead of focusing on intellectual anti-Semites and anti-Semitism, we should focus on positive history — the good sides of Jewish history with France. There’s a positive history. You can’t only see the black.”