Violence in Europe returns Jews to their historical homeland

The Bataclan theater in Paris, where four terrorists killed at least 89 people, was until recently owned by Jews. Back in 2008, a group of Muslims with covered faces threatened the club's owners and demanded that they stop fundraising events for the Israeli army. “We want to politely tell them to close up shop. But our politeness and patience have limits. We are not ready to put up with the fundraising going on here for Israel. Those who do this will pay dearly. Next time we will come here, but not just to talk,” Channel 9 quotes old threats to Bataklan.

Also, several demonstrations by pro-Palestinian activists, who accused the owners of supporting “war criminals”, took place near the hall. And in the 2011 year, during interrogations by the French secret services, one of the radical Islamists confessed that he was planning an attack on Bataklan.

The brothers Joel and Pascal Lalu, whose family owned the establishment for many years, sold it in September of this year. They moved to Israel, Joel changed his last name to Tweet.

Pascal Laloux, in an interview with Channel 2, said the tragedy would prompt more people to leave France and move to Israel or another country. “Without a doubt, people do not feel safe because the state is not taking the necessary measures. We live in a democracy. There are rules. We cannot do whatever we want, but the rules are not written for terrorists,” the Israeli quotes the former owner of the Bataclan as saying. portal ynet.

Europe has slack

“European countries have become a laughing stock for unwittingly supporting radical Islam. With this, Europe has signed its own death warrant,” Alexander Levin, president of the World Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry, agrees with Lalu.

He points out an important detail: two days before the tragedy, while Israel was experiencing another wave of terror, European Union bureaucrats approved rules for special labeling of products produced “in territories occupied by Israel since 1967.” We are talking about the disputed eastern quarters of Jerusalem, including the Old City, as well as the Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria.

“At a time when there are more than 200 conflicts in the world, the EU is hypocritically applying double standards exclusively to Israel,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The country's Foreign Ministry even temporarily suspended dialogue with the European Union regarding the Israeli-Arab conflict. “Before the Second World War, they also began to mark Jews, they sewed six-pointed stars,” Levin is indignant.

Two years ago, 29% of the Jews of the European Union thought about emigration, since they did not feel safe in the European Union, a survey of the Agency for Fundamental Rights showed. Jews across Europe "are faced with insults, discrimination and physical violence, which, despite the concerted efforts of the EU and its member countries, are not a thing of the past," noted in the report. 76% of respondents stated that anti-Semitism in their countries has intensified over the past five years, with the most noticeable deterioration in the situation in France, Hungary and Belgium.

The tragic events in Paris forced the whole world to reconsider its attitude towards liberal values. And the Jews were reminded that they should not indulge themselves in the illusion of security. Neither in Europe nor in America. Because the only safe place is Israel, says Alex Selsky, CEO of the global movement “Our Home is Israel.”

Those Jews who return to Israel agree with him: this year the stream of repatriates to Israel increased by 40%. Last year, the most Jews, seven thousand people, left it from the European Union.

But these numbers fade when it comes to the flow of Russian-speaking Jews from Ukraine. In the first three months of this year alone, almost two thousand Jews came from there, an increase in the flow of 215%. One and a half thousand people arrived from Russia, that is, half as many reports the guardian.

“Jews must be strong. When we are strong, no one will touch us or think that they can burn us. And if someone thinks that this will not happen to him, then he does not know history. In Germany during the rise of Hitler, Jews felt no less confident than in America today. Before this, the same thing happened in Poland, Spain, Portugal, and Egypt. Another Holocaust will not happen only because there will be a strong Israel to go to. Or we, including myself, will come in the uniform of the Defense Army and take them here,” notes Selsky.

Compared to Europe, Israel copes more effectively with terrorist threats - through not only intelligence services, but also compulsory military service. Even civilians are on alert. “In Israel they know where to run and where to save themselves. The terrorist certainly would not have escaped there, as happened in Paris. There would be people in the crowd who would react. Israelis are taught how to behave even when a missile is flying. In France, there was a president on the football field - how could terrorists even get so close, and where was the security? People are relaxed. Militants came to them under the guise of refugees,” explains Levin, who often visits Israel, Europe and America.

How to influence Israel

However, the diaspora can also influence important issues facing Israel from abroad - through delegates to the World Zionist Congress. Today, Russian-speaking Jews make up about 15% of the total population of Israel and are quite a significant force. And more recently, Russian speakers have also become a significant force among the Jewish diaspora at the World Zionist Congress.

"Forum" already wrote how the Congress is organized, and what is decided there.

New York doctor Igor Branovan recently returned from the World Zionist Congress.

This year he, Alexander Levin and eight other Russian-speaking delegates went to the Congress. Ten people is a huge progress, because last time in Jerusalem there were only two from Russian-speaking Jewish community.

Igor Branovan was one of the delegates of the last convocation. He says that Russian-speaking Jews are in many respects perceived as a new force and are afraid of them by the old-timers of Congress.

“Left parties fought to take away our votes. In total, they managed to throw out almost seven thousand votes, which could have given us an additional eight or nine delegates. They [the re-election committee] changed the rules. They saw that Russian-speaking people were paying their fees using checks, and they canceled the checks. Elderly people come to the office, where they are helped to work on computers - they say: no, it’s impossible for there to be voices from one point. They refused to count the last three thousand votes at all. The questionnaires were on their table. They said they didn’t get around to it,” explains Branovan.

The game was worth the candle - the delegates of the World Zionist Congress solve ideological, managerial and financial issues. For example, the future of settlements beyond the “green line”, permissible concessions in peace negotiations, the privatization of Israeli land by private individuals and much more.

In addition, they divide budgets and decide which programs in the diaspora will receive funding. Alex Selsky notes that the delegates of the “American Forum” here managed to insist on their own - they achieved the creation of a department in the World Zionist Organization to work with the Russian-speaking community of the West. And the largest amount of work and budget will be directed specifically to the United States, where the largest Jewish community lives. We are talking about additional millions of dollars that will go to work with Russian-speaking youth, communities, trips, etc., he added.

However, the “Our Home is Israel” movement and the “World Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry” still have room for improvement. “I hope that in five years we will be able to strengthen our position to 20 delegates. It is necessary for the leaders of the Russian-speaking American community to enter the front ranks of the Israeli lobby,” Selsky outlines his plans.

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