Neues vom Nachbarn

Serious Black, Sonntag, 29. November 2020, 09:42 (vor 1454 Tagen) @ Boothby

Michael Oren:

Far from indicting France for its Holocaust crimes, Krivine has in fact forgiven it. That message was conveyed to the 3.4 million French viewers who, on average, watched every hour of Un Village Français and to the many millions more in the 40 countries that rebroadcast it. They received first-class drama and acting, a courageous reexamination of French history—and a not-too-subliminal message about Israel being the ultimate guilty party, whose Nazi-like actions perversely cleanse the French of their own crimes in a bath of invented equivalence.

This libel corresponds with the unremitting rise of anti-Semitism in France. From the Front National on the right and Islamic extremists often backed by the left, as well as from “yellow vest” protesters, Jews are once again the target—so much so that 77% of French Jews now see anti-Semitism as a major threat. As a result, increasing numbers of Jews are leaving France for Israel. The signs in my Jaffa neighborhood are all in French and there are numerous Francophonic synagogues. Starting in 2014, French immigration to Israel surpassed that from the United States, and tens of thousands more are expected. Contrary to the conclusion of Un Village Français that Jews are physically threatened no matter where they go, and morally imperiled by Israel, these immigrants see the Jewish state as safer than France—for good reason.

As for my friend, learning about the fate of his French family at Yad Vashem changed him fundamentally. Rather than rejecting his Jewish identity, he began to embrace it and is today strictly observant. He is proud of his French roots but knows that in the terroirs de France they could never flower.

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/un-village-francais-oren