Bonsoir,
Thanks for coming tonight. I want To Thank The American Jewish Committee, Ilana Wilensik And Bob Seltzer For Giving Me The Great Honor and Opportunity To Give My First Public Speech. It Is Something I Have Always Wanted To Do And Hope To Continue Doing In The Future.
I have an accent. I hope it won’t bother you. I know Americans love it.

The Statements Made here Are Purely Personal. I hope no one will take offense from my radical views.

I Will Be Happy To Answer Questions At The End of my presentation.

So, I Was Born On A Typical Cold November Day In Paris. My Family Had Arrived in the mid fifities from Tunisia After The Country Became Independent.

Although The Jewish Presence In Tunisia Traces Back To The 6th Century B.C., Tunisia Had Been A French Protectorate Since 1881. Some Jews Were Naturalized French And That Was The Case For My Mother's Family. My Mother Was Born A French Citizen On The Tunisian Soil. That definitely strenghtened Her Attachment To The Motherland. As a kid, she was proud singing The Marseillaise, The French National Anthem.

Interestingly, My Father's Family Did Not Benefit By Law Of This Early Citizenship. My Father Even Remained A Tunisian Citizen Until 2002!
So I Grew Up in This Interesting Clash Of Views.
On One Side, My Mother's Family Proud Of Their Apartenance To The French Nation, On The Other Side, My Father's Family Considering Their Connection To France As "A Random Fact Of History". As A Kid, I Remember My Father's Father Telling Us "Never Forget You Are Jewish, That Is Far More Important" And Adding In Judeo-Arabic "Meha Bunesh" Which Literally Means "They (The French) Do Not Like Us"!

I Take Pride in Growing Up In The Beautiful City Of Paris. I am The Product Of The French Public School System, L’Ecole De La Republique. I Have To Salute My Parents's Relentless Efforts To Insist On The Importance Of Judaism And Its Traditions In My Life. Having No Boys, My Sisters And I All Went To Talmud-Torah And we Were Bat-Mitsvaed At The Great Synagogue In Paris.
The Love For Israel Was Strongly Emphasized And We Spent Many Summers Traveling To Israel.

As A Child, I Never Really Discussed My Jewishness To My Friends, Neither Did I Wear A Star David In The Subway. Just Out Of Precaution. My Parents Never Encouraged Us To Disclose Our Judaism. The Only Day We Were Missing School Was Yom Kippur. As An Anecdote, in the early 60’s, My Mother Had An Uncle, a Police Officer who had settled with his wife and 4 children In Forges-Les-Eaux, a Small Provincial Town in Normandy. On Yom Kippur, they were praying silently inside their home, their Neighbors Thinking That They Were Out Of Town. I Never Found Out If This Was Out Of Pure Paranoia Or Really Justified. They later moved to Israel to live their judaism more freely.

For Many Years, Our Mezuzah Was Not Posted On Our Outside Doorpost But On The Inside Of Our Home, Away From Curious Viewers.

Let Me Tell You How Devastated My Mother Was When She Heard Of A Petition Signed By Our Neighbors To The Building Landlord In Which They Were Complaining That We Were Singing Too Loud On Passover Seder! This Petition Later Turned Into A Lawsuit, A Traumatic Event For My Mother.

I Remember Vividly Our Next Door Neighbor Dropping A “Too Bad Hitler Did Not Finish The Work” When Another Claimed She Had Saved Jewish Lives During World War II. To Which My Mother Responded obviously it did Not Prevent 70.000 Jews From Being Deported To The Death Camps!

So The "Mehabunesh" From My Grand-Father Resonates As Being Wise And True!

Antisemitism Is Part Of The Cultural European Environment. This Concept Is Somewhat Foreign To Americans Who Have Always Enjoyed Full Respect Of Their Religious Rights and Identity. To the contrary, Europe Has A Profound History Of Antisemitism Rooted In The Longtime Christian Belief That The Jews Had Killed Jesus. For Centuries, That Was The Persistent Teaching Of The Catholic Church.

I will not go over French History again. It was very well presented by Professor Stromberg Childers.

But here are a few facts to know:
In The 50’s, Massive Immigration Of Sephardim from Marocco, Algeria and Tunisia Arrived In France. Most Of Them Had Left Their Properties And Businesses Behind and started from zero. The French saw them as Intruders.

But Jews have contributed greatly to the French Society. They Have Given Birth To Brilliant Surgeons, Scientists And Distinguished Intellectuals Such As Alain Finkelkraut And Bernard-Henry Levy. They never lived On Welfare, paid Tax Revenue And Generally Contributed To The Blossoming Of French Culture.

While Today The Muslim Community Resists Integration, The Jews Have Been Fully Committed To The Country.

In 1989, Profanation Of The Jewish Cemetery In Carpentras With The Horrifying Story Of An Impaled Corpse Revived The Sad Memory That Pro-Nazi ideas had not completed vanished. The Victim Felix Germon Z”AL Was My Grand Father’s Cousin. That was a second schock for my mother.

With An Average 650,000 Souls, The Jewish Population In France Is The Third Largest In The World.
In North Africa, Jews And Arabs Lived Peacefully Next To Each Other’s and Developed Some understanding.

But The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Has Created A Huge Barrier Between The Two Communities And The Gap Is becoming Very Deep.

Today Antisemitism Or What We Commonly Call Judeophobia Has A Different Face.

Since The Second Intifada, An Incredible Number Of Violent Anti-Jewish And Anti-Israeli Acts Have Happened. I Read The News On Internet Everyday And The List Of Antisemitic Acts is Frightening. The Simon Wiesenthal Center Has Recorded 500 Incidents In Paris area Since October 2000 And More Than 300 Between January 2001 And March 2003. It Ranges From Vandalism, Burning Synagogues And Kosher Grocery Stores, Open Boycott in supermarkets of Israeli products, Cocktail Molotov, Insults, Physical Threats, Provocations, Hainous Graffitis, Beating Up Jewish Students etc etc…

Arab Students Use Universities as local platforms To fight Israel policy and to attack Zionism, Both Considered Evil.

Les Maghrebins, The Arab/Muslim Population Arrived in France in The early 70s For Economic Reasons. They represented a great manpower for the industries.
The Northern Suburbs Of Paris, An Old Communist Bastion Commonly Called The Red Belt, Is Largely Inhabited By The Arab/Muslim Population. Those Suburbs Are Lawless Zones Where there is Petty Criminalty everyday and Where Police Officers Are Afraid of retaliation if they enforce the Law. In Those Areas, Teachers Are Afraid Of Violence. In schools, Arab/Muslim Children openly Refuse to Learn The Shoah As Part Of The History Program And Firmly Believe The Holocaust Is A Fabrication Of The Zionists!!! Some even oppose Having Jewish Teachers.

Again, I Do Not Intend To Make Sweeping Generalizations Or Stereotyping Here. I Want To Believe there Is Diversity Within France's Arab/Muslim Population, but personally I Have Not Seen It.

Sociologically, It Is Surprising That They Have Fled Their Homelands To Live In Democracy Seeking For Economic Comfort, Something Their own Countries Could Not Offer, But Tended To Recreate The Same Pattern Of Social Failure Once In France!

The Arab/Muslim Community Biggest Argument Is That They Are Alienated From The Society! They Feel Humiliated For Living In Poverty In violent Suburbs and many Are Unemployed And Receive Welfare from the government.

Personally I Reject This Argument As Valid.

Was The Situation Any Better For Jews When They Arrived 50 Years Ago? The Suburb Of Sarcelles where many Jews have settled was Not Any More Glamourous Than Saint-Denis. The Difference Is That Our Parents Were determined to achieve professional accomplishments while The Maghrebins Are Sheltering Behind Social Rejection To Justify Their Economic Failure.

Two Main Events Have Stormed The Raise Of Antisemitic Acts: The Killing Of Mohamed Al Dura, the palestinian boy, That Was Presented On National TV As A Deliberate Killing By Israeli Soldiers And The Said So Massacre Of Jenin Of April 2002 That Was Later Proved As A Manipulating Lie On The Part Of The Palestinians.

Fueled By Violent Sermons Given By Their Religious Leaders And Relayed By Well-Orchestrated Media Pictures Of Israeli Tanks In The West Bank, The Hate For Israel Is Masking A Profound hate For The Jews.

In This International Context, Young Arab Muslims believe that Islam Is Their Cause, Palestine Is Their Country And In Its Name Everything Is Permitted, America And Jews Are The Enemies And Terrorism Is Courageous!

I Sincerely Doubt That The old and young generations desire To Be Part Of This Society Especially Since September 11, an Event That Has Tremendously boosted Their Pride Of Belonging To The Arab/Muslim Nation. After the tragedy, we saw on TV scenes of joy similar to the demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza, while young kids exhibited with pride T-shirts of “Long Live to Ben Laden”.

Last Year, The Book “Dream Of Palestine” Written By A 14 Years Old Girl Who Never Step A Foot In The West Bank, Was Published By Flammarion The French Equivalent Of Harper’s Publishing. This Book designed for Teenager Readers Was An Open Incitement To Kill More Jews And More Israelis Everywhere Possible. The Jewish Community Strongly Voiced Its Opposition And Has Put Pressure On The Editor To Have The Book Withdrawn From Bookstores. Without Any Success!

About Three Weeks Ago, A Rap Band called “Sniper” released a new CD. Their main Song is a violent propaganda Against Israel For “Occupying Illegally The Legitimate Land Of The Palestininians”. The CD Was Advertised By France 2 itself, The French National TV.

All This Happens Without Any Concern From The French Apathetic Society, A Classic Trait of their Character (Except When It Comes To Their Rights And Personal Privileges)!!

The French Government Is Not Doing much. Their Attitude is to be characterized by Blindness And Denial.

The Official Response To Acknowledge The seriousness Of The Situation Was Very Slow To Come.

When They Are Not Simply Denying The Existence Of Antisemitism, Jacques Chirac In 2001 Declared To The Press “There Is No Antisemitism In France”!, They Merely Reiterate A Shallow Condemnation Of Not Importing The Palestinian Conflict To the French soil.

Jean-Pierre Raffarrin, The Prime Minister asked The Court System And Law Enforcement To Give The Toughest Sentences Against Criminals. But In Reality it Is barely enforced.

Today On The Political Scene, Nicolas Sarkozi, The Interior Minister, Is One Of The Few Political Figure Standing Up And Confronting The Radical Arab/Muslim Community In Its Desire To Impose Its Fundamental Values To The Republic (for ex the veil that girls want to wear in public schools).

Jews Have been reacting strongly. Learning From The Tragic Holocaust Experience, They Refuse again to be a scapegoat.

The Jewish Community Is Also Active in fighting anti- Israeli Articles and regularly combat the Distorted Presentation Of Facts by the medias.

Media News are biased against Israel and a Number Of Internet Websites Have Flourished Where They Fight Media Disinformation Against Israel.

I‘d Like To Cite A Few Of Them Which Do A Tremendous Work Of Parallel Information Network: Primoeurope.Com, Guysen.Com., Desinfos.Com. Myself, I Contribute Regularly To Harissa.Com, The Website Of Tunisian Jews.

Politically, Jews are abandoned by the right and left. The Jewish Vote Has Diminished Greatly in its impact in national elections.

French diplomacy is well known for its pro-arab orientation. The Right Wing Is Uncomfortably tied To Arab Regimes Because Of The Oil Necessity.

Jacques Chirac Himself Facilitated in the late 70’s the Multibillion-Dollar Sale Of The Osirak Nuclear Reactor To Irak That Was Later Destroyed By Israel. That Explains in part Why Chirac Has So Openly Voiced Its Opposition to The War against Saddam.

The Left Wing And The Parti Socialiste Of Francois Mitterrand, A Common Attraction To Jewish Voters, does not hesitate to accuse Israel To Be A Criminal State.

La Neo-Gauche (Or The New Left) radicalized by the Greens and many Labor parties is seeking Potential Voters.

The Double Language Of French Governments, Right or Left, is well-known.

A Few Months Ago, Addressing The Francophone Summit In Beirut, Chirac Declared “The War On Terrorism Should Be Fought without Mercy”. With An Incredible duplicity, The Lebanese Hizballah Leader, Hassan Nasrallah, Was Honored And Invited To The Opening Session that same night.

Anyone Interested In The French Presidential last year was stunned At The View Of Moroccan And Algerian Flags Floating In Front Of The Hotel De Ville, Paris City Hall on election night. Mrs.Chirac, An Aristocratic Bourgeoise Showed A Sour Face That Night Despite Her Husband’s Re-election.

So two feelings predominate among the Jewish Community:

They feel betrayed on both sides, by The French and by the Arabs. By The French because they Have Worked Their Entire Lives To Enrich This Society That Now Ignores Them.

By the Arabs because Jews had expressed support and sympathy in its time for the Arabs. In The Late 80’s, We all identified with “Touches Pas A Mon Pote-Do Not Touch My Buddy”, the Slogan Of SOS Racism, A Popular Social Rights Movement. No pay back on their part when you see demonstrations with palestinian flags and “Death to the Jews” signs!

The Jews are Afraid. I hear the same echo from family and friends. In Situations Of Friction Between The Two Communities And For The Sake Of Civil Peace, they do not expect The French, Known For Their Antisemitic Past, to side with them but rather with the majority of Arab/Muslim Population.

It is scarry to say that The French Jewish Community Faces today The Same Dangers The Jews From Russia Did for decades.

Conclusion:
I found this quote which I thought is pretty significant.

40 Years ago, De Gaulle said: “We have A Serious Problem. There Has been 40,000 Immigrants From Algeria in April. It Is Equal To The Number Of Babies Born That Month. I’d Like to see More Babies Born In France And Less Immigrants To Come. After All, We Are A White Race With Greek And Latin Cultures And Of Christian Faith. Otherwise France Would Not Be France"

That says it all.

With statistically More Than 6 To 7 Millions Of Muslims, France Is Facing A Very Severe Phase Of Islamisation. Last week, the elections for the Council of Muslim Faith, a council for national representation of the Maghrebins on the political stage, have seen the victory of radical islamists.

In This Context and With The Growing Demographic Of The Arab/Muslim Population, Jews Have Very Little Hope To Remain There.

Most Of Them Foresee They Will Have To Leave France Within The Next Decade. Some Consider Israel As Their Primary Destination When Others Are Looking Toward The United States And Canada And Hope that under those circumstances, they Will Open Their Doors To Them.

I Encourage All Of You To Contact Your Senators And Congressmen And Ask For Their Support. Alert Them Of The true Dangers The Jews in France Are Facing. Ask Them To Put Pressure On The French Government. May be we can facilitate immigration to some of them here.

We have protested in the past in favor of the Refuzniks. We, Jews In America, Must Stand Up And React. It Is Our Responsibility To Help Our Brothers And Sisters.
We are a small people and no one can do the Job for Us.

Merci De Votre Attention.                  

ISABELLE TAHAR MILLER

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