European Jews concerned as anti-Semitic attacks increase

LONDON -- Firebombs hurled at Jewish schools and synagogues in France. Orthodox Jews assaulted on the streets of north London. Protesters at a Rome demonstration dressed as suicide bombers.

European Jews are increasingly uneasy about a wave of anti-Semitic violence that has coincided with rising tensions in the Middle East.

"There is a feeling ranging from discomfort to worry," said Michael Whine, spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

The problem is most serious in France, where authorities reported nearly 360 crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions in the first two weeks of April alone. Those attacks came when the news was dominated by images of Israeli tanks pushing into West Bank cities in the Jewish state's biggest military offensive in two decades.

The French violence -- which authorities say is at its highest level since World War II -- included a March 31 arson attack that destroyed the Or Aviv synagogue in the port city of Marseille. Attackers have also thrown gasoline bombs and tried to set fires at about a dozen other synagogues and cemeteries. A kosher butcher's shop was shot at and teen-agers on an amateur Jewish soccer team were assaulted with sticks and metal bars, sending one to the hospital.

French President Jacques Chirac urged people to show respect and tolerance to help end the attacks, which President Bush also condemned on Tuesday, singling out France.

France's Interior Ministry said most of the suspects detained are young Arabs of North African origin.

French Jews have been further rattled by the strong showing of far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in the presidential qualifying round. Le Pen has been convicted of anti-Semitism and once called Nazi gas chambers a "detail in the history of World War II."

The wave of attacks around Europe began when the current Palestinian uprising broke out in September 2000 and surged again last month with Israel's West Bank offensive.

In Belgium, there have been a half dozen attacks on Jewish institutions, including the burning of a bookstore and a shooting at a synagogue.

"There is today an anxiety of the part of Jews when they go to the religious centers, they go to their social centers," World Jewish Congress Secretary-General Avi Beker said at emergency meeting the group held in Brussels. "This is quite shameful for Europe."

In Britain, the trouble has been milder, which Whine attributed to the government's tough stance against hate-fueled vandals and close cooperation between police and the Jewish community.

But last weekend, attackers broke into the Finsbury Park District Synagogue in north London, smashing windows, painting a swastika on a lectern and throwing holy books, skullcaps and prayer shawls on the floor. A British flag was left on the altar, prompting speculation that right-wing nationalists were responsible.

Whine said 15 British Jews had been victims of anti-Semitic attacks in the first three weeks of April, most of them in London. Some had to be briefly hospitalized, but none was seriously injured, he said.

Recently, the British magazine New Statesman apologized for an issue headlined "A Kosher Conspiracy" that included an image of the Jewish Star of David piercing the Union Jack. Inside, one article suggested that supporters of Israel have undue influence over the media's coverage of the Middle East. Another article was about pro-Israeli lobbies.

Aba Dunner, secretary-general of the Conference of European Rabbis, said widespread criticism of Israeli military action had created a climate that made thugs feel violence was acceptable.

"There seems to be a green light being given to the people who don't like Jews," he said. "Clearly in France and Belgium it's the Muslims who are relating the Middle East situation to Jews in the West. ... And it's given a green light in my opinion to the right-wing parties."

German Jews appealed to authorities this week to stop a "spiral of violence" against Jewish targets. In recent weeks, an assailant threw a Molotov cocktail at a synagogue, a homemade bomb exploded at a Jewish cemetery and two Jewish women were assaulted at a Berlin subway station.

Police in Berlin apologized last week for an official's suggestion that Jews there should stop wearing religious symbols to avoid attacks.

Political leaders in Italy have condemned the anti-Semitic tone of some demonstrations billed as promoting peace or Palestinian rights, including one at which a few participants dressed as suicide bombers.

Synagogues in Russia and Ukraine have been attacked, and vandals desecrated gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in northern Greece.

Dunner said it was hard to know whether a decrease in Middle East tensions would bring an end to attacks in Europe.

"Once you've let the genie out of the bottle, it's not that easy to get it back inside," he said. "There's a lot of hatred out there."