Jews are leaving Europe as Muslims are entering

By Jerry Gordon, NER

The following is an excerpt from a speech given by Ze’ev Jabotinsky in Warsaw, Poland on Tisha B’Av in 1937. [Two years before the Nazis invaded Poland.]

“… it is already three years that I am calling upon you, Polish Jewry, who are the crown of world Jewry. I continue to warn you incessantly that a catastrophe is coming closer. I became gray and old in these years, my heart bleeds, that you, dear brothers and sisters, do not see the volcano which will soon begin to spit it’s all consuming lava. I know that you are not seeing this because you are immersed in your daily worries. Today, however, I demand your trust. You were convinced already that my prognoses have already proven to be right. If you think differently then drive me out from your midst.

“However, if you do believe me, then listen to me in this 11th hour: In the name of G-d, Let anyone of you save himself as long as there is still time. And time there is very little.

“… and what else I would like to say to you in this day on Tisha B’Av: whoever of you will escape from the catastrophe, he or she will live to see the exalted moment of a great Jewish wedding: the rebirth and the rise of a Jewish state. I don’t know if I will be privileged to see it; my son will. I believe in this as I am sure that tomorrow morning the sun will rise.”

It was Jabotinsky’s last Tisha B’Av Message to his largest and most loyal constituency. In a short time both he and they would be gone. Two years later World War Two started in which Six Million European Jewish men, women and children were murdered in Hitler’s Final Solution. After the disclosures of the Holocaust the world said ‘never again’.

Fast forward to Shoah Commemorations in 2016. 2.5 million Jews see no future for themselves and their children in Europe

Surveys of Jewish Communities in France, Britain and Germany attest to the fear of Islamic terrorism and uncertainty of continued protection by national governments of their homes, synagogues and communities:

58 percent of British Jews surveyed felt they might have no long-term future in Europe;

45 percent felt their family was threatened by Islamist extremism; and

2,500 French Jewish millionaires left in2015 for Israel or America because of rising religious tensions and deadly attacks by Muslims, especially in urban areas.

40 percent of respondents said that anti-Semitism poses a serious threat to the future of Jewish life in their country in a poll of European Jewish leaders published in March 2016 by the International Center for Community Development of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Jews in Paris, Toulouse, Brussels and Copenhagen have been murdered by Muslim émigrés, Al Qaeda and Islamic State returning veterans. Israeli and European Jews were among those targeted and injured in the March 2016 Brussels Airport attack.

Estimates drawn from several EU Surveys indicate that 150 million of the 400 million EU population harbor anti-Semitic views:

Hate crime incidents at five year high in Germany…. There were 1,596 recorded hate crimes against Jewish people last year in the country, the highest level since 2009 and a greater level than recorded in any other EU state;

815 incidents in France – double the year before, and this prior to January 2015 Kosher Supermarket and November 2015 Paris massacres; and,

Police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland recorded 318 hate crimes against Jews in 2013-14 , an 89 per cent increase over the previous year.

Data from the 2014 ADL Global 100 Anti-Semitism survey for Major European Jewish communities show:

There are 38 anti-Semites for each Jew in France;
161 anti-Semites for every Jew in Germany; and,
14.5 anti-Semites for every Jew in the UK.
Most troubling EU and Belgian Surveys indicate that Muslims are 8 times more likely than non-Muslims to espouse Anti-Semitism.

European Jews are leaving reflected in immigration to Israel. Amid rise in attacks, 9,880 made aliyah in 2015, including almost 8,000 from France. Jewish Agency Director, Natan Sharansky said: “An unprecedented number of Jews feel that Europe is no longer their home.”

Europe’s 44 million Muslim population in 2010 is estimated to grow to more than 58 million by 2030.

The Muslim population in European countries with major Jewish communities is already significant:

Germany and France have the largest Muslim populations among European Union member countries – 4.8 million Muslims in Germany (5.8% of the country’s population) and 4.7 million Muslims in France (7.5%).
The Muslim share of Europe’s total population has been increasing steadily – 4% in 1990, 6% in 2010, and 8% by 2030.
Muslim population in major European cities far exceeds national representation:

Amsterdam 24.0%
Antwerp 16.9%
Berlin 9.0%
Brussels 25.5%
London 13.1%
Marseilles 25.0%
Milan 10.0%
Paris 15.0%
Rotterdam 25.0%
Stockholm 20.0%
Vienna 10.0%

Jewish synagogues throughout Europe have been the subject of fire bombings, anti-Semitic graffiti defacing synagogues and members attacked by rioters. Today it is common for synagogues throughout Europe to be protected by machine gun toting security police or military. Observant Jewish men and youths are fearful of wearing kippots in public. Young girls cover their necklaces with Mogen David stars. The insurgent far right AfD Party (Alternative for Germany, Alternative für Deutschland) has proposed banning Schechita Jewish humane ritual slaughter of animals and Brit Millah, Circumcision for male babies.

European Jewish Congress President, Dr. Moshe Kantor and Franz Timmermans, EU vice president say:

“If hundreds of thousands of Jews leave the European Union, which is becoming a very strong possibility, then it will be judged a failure,” Kantor said in Brussels.

“Over the past few years, tens of thousands of Jews have left Europe to seek a safer home elsewhere, and today, one-third of Europe’s nearly 2.5 million Jews are considering emigration. Whole areas of Europe are being emptied of Jews and not enough is being done.”

“In the last couple of years we have seen this age-old monster come up again in Europe, which is anti-Semitism,” said Frans Timmermans. “We Europeans, whenever we are in trouble, when there is a crisis, we look for people to blame and throughout the ages Jews have been on the receiving end.”

What does this mean for American Jews?

Consider launching programs to make American Jewish communities aware of likely immigration consequences of admitting Muslim refugees who may harbor deep rooted religious and ethnic hatreds;

Consider fund raising for American sponsored absorption programs for European Jews seeking aliyah to Israel and immigration to the US; and,

Establish joint American /Israeli programs for young Jewish adults as Shaliach, “emissaries” to meet with European Jewish community leaders and peers to assess problems and develop constructive programs to facilitate absorption of those European Jews who wish to emigrate.