This footage wasn't taken outside the Israeli embassy in Paris, mind you. It was shot at a Parisian synagogue -- a house of worship at which virtually all of the congregants, presumably, were Frenchmen (via Twitchy):
The Jerusalem Post describes the chaos:
Dozens of young men protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza briefly besieged a Paris synagogue and clashed with security. At least three Jews were taken to hospital as a result of the clashes the erupted on Sunday between the protesters and young Jewish men who guarded the Synagogue de la Roquette in Paris, a witness told JTA. “The attackers splintered off an anti-Israel demonstration and advanced toward the synagogue when it was full,” Alain Azria, a French Jewish journalist who covered the event told JTA. Azria said that when the men arrived at the synagogue, located at the 11th Arrodissement near Dare de Lyon, there were only five police officers guarding the place. The police blocked the entrance to the synagogue while close to 200 congregants were inside and as the protesters chanted anti-Semitic slogans and hurled objects at the synagogue and its guards, Azria said. “They were determined to enter and the police did not have enough forces,” he said. According to Azria, the mob was kept away by men from the SPCJ Jewish security unit, the Jewish Defense League and Beitar, who engaged the attackers in what turned into a street brawl. “Thank God they were there because the protesters had murder on their minds and it took a while before police reinforcements arrived,” Azria added.
Mr. Azria says he attended another weekend rally (the ostensible purpose of which was to protest the Israeli government's actions) and heard chants of “slaughter the Jews” and “death to the Jews.” Those…aren't political slogans. As the JPost story notes, French Jews have witnessed an alarming uptick in anti-Semitic rhetoric and acts in recent days, as some anti-Israel fanatics abandon the pretense that their opposition to Israel is rooted in anything other than rank bigotry. Their quarrel isn't with the Jewish state; it's with Jews themselves. The New York Times reported in late June that thousands of French Jews are emigrating to Israel, an exodus fueled by escalating anti-Semitic violence. The piece quotes a young mother who was assaulted by a gang of Muslim girls on the iconic Champs-Élysées. Her assailants called her a "dirty Jew." Said the woman, "I love France, and this is my country, but I am disgusted now...In Israel there is an army that will protect us. Here, I can no longer see a future for my children." Heartbreaking. Perhaps these anti-pluralism, unassimilated French Muslims -- or "youths," as the media euphemism goes after destructive riots -- have been emboldened by the French government's acquiescence to so-called "no-go" zones, where officials essentially cede authority to ad hoc Islamic law. On a personal note, I just returned from Berlin, where I spent part of an afternoon at the 'Topography of Terror' museum. An outdoor display traces the history of Hilter's rise to power, which was littered with pogroms spurred by totally irrational, fervently anti-Semitic scapegoating. With that exhibit fresh in my mind, you'll forgive me for being chilled to the bone by Twitchy's avert-your-eyes round-up of tweets from the trending #HitlerWasRight hashtag. CNN's Jake Tapper drew attention to the hateful bile over the weekend:
vile stuff out there via hashtags #HitlerWasRight & #HitlerDidNothingWrong, many from ppl who don't seem to get what Hitler thought of Arabs
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 12, 2014
As I mentioned yesterday, Tapper drilled a former PLO spokeswoman with tough questions on his program last week. She tried to argue that simply pointing out facts about radical Islamists' obscene death culture is a "racist" exercise. Identifying the Hamas' martyrdom obsession is "offensive," she added. And with that in mind, I give you Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri -- last heard from instructing Palestinians to risk their lives by ignoring Israeli evacuation warnings. A revealing slip of the tongue:
We are leading our people to death! Uh, actually, what I meant was, um…we're leading our people to confrontation with this occupier! Reminder: Israel unilaterally and completely pulled out of "occupied" Gaza nine years ago in a bid to appease the Palestinians. They've since been rewarded by more than 9,000 rockets fired at their civilians. I'll leave you with this charming message from an "anti-Isreal" riot in Germany, at which police were pelted with rocks:
"You Jews are beasts,” they say in Germany. In France, a synagogue is attacked. Maybe it's time to get out? http://t.co/Xr8gDGgdia
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) July 14, 2014
UPDATE - Israel unilaterally and unconditionally accepted the initial terms of an Egypt-floated ceasefire agreement. Hamas, whose ludicrous demands have been growing by the day, refused. Forty-seven rockets later, the Israelis have announced the resumption of their military campaign against the terrorist organization. But remember, this "disproportionate" conflict is Israel's fault.
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