Don’t worry about me . . . worry about your kids...

Why Are Sex Offenders Welcomed?

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice website describes a Level 3 registered sex offender, their highest level, as one who has a “high risk of repeat offense and a threat to public safety exists.”

In the United States, registered sex offenders are carefully monitored and are not permitted to live near schools. In fact, it is common practice for American School Districts to issue email warnings when a registered sex offender relocates within the boundaries of their District.

Yona Weinberg, is a convicted, registered, New York State Level 3 Sex Offender who served 13 months in an American jail for seven counts of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree and two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

In Israel, American sex offenders like Yona Weinberg are welcomed with open arms; rewarded with Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return and given new immigrant status, which affords them a wide range of benefits.

Oh; we forgot to mention an additional perk.

They get to file (you can’t make this up) defamation lawsuits against child safety advocates who warn Israeli parents about the danger posed to their children, as was recently reported in Yediyot Achronot. (Click here and scroll down for the Yediyot article and its English translation)

Here is Weinberg’s story in a nutshell:

As reported earlier this year in the NY Daily News and UK Daily Mail, Weinberg allegedly assaulted an 11-year old boy after being released from jail for sexually assaulting two (other) boys. Knowing he was about to be arrested, Weinberg fled the USA to Israel.

His wife and children followed him, and they settled in Har Nof as Israeli citizens. Israel’s Ivrit YNet ran a story about the concerns of Har Nof residents (English translation here) and their fruitless efforts to have Weinberg’s citizenship revoked.

I utilized Twitter as a means of warning the residents of Har Nof that Mr. Weinberg presents a clear and continuing danger to their children.

In June 2015, I was served with papers at my home in New York, informing me that a summary judgement was issued against me in an Israeli court, obligating me to pay Mr. Weinberg 200,000 shekel (about $55,000) for slandering him.

My Israeli attorney had that judgement set aside, but Weinberg’s frivolous and disgraceful defamation lawsuit was permitted to proceed, despite the fact that we submitted to the Israeli court clear evidence of his American conviction and registered sex-offender status.

To add insult to injury, my attorney was notified that if we did not pay 1,500 shekel in court costs to Weinberg, the illustrious judge would reinstate the 200,000 shekel judgement against me.

Since I will be in Jerusalem next week presenting at the Tahel Child Safety Conference and launching the Hebrew version of our child safety/abuse prevention book; Mah She’batuach – Batuach! (scroll down for information about the book, and for a wide range of free child safety/abuse prevention resources), and cannot afford the possibility of being detained in Israel as a result of a possible judgement, I was basically forced to make that outrageous payment.

These lines were written, not to present my case, but to present the sorry state of affairs in the Israeli courts and the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption as it relates to the safety of your children.

Worded differently, don’t worry about me; worry about your kids.

The Center for Jewish Family Life will not be deterred or intimidated. We will continue to advocate for the safety of our children, and vigorously defend the right to warn parents about the presence of registered sex offenders in their neighborhoods and the danger they pose to their children.

We do, however, have deep concerns about the safety of children in Israel so long as convicted, registered Level-3 sex offenders are embraced by the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption and are permitted to manipulate Israeli courts to intimidate and silence child safety advocates.

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-are-sex-offenders-welcomed/

Moreover, the studies indicate that abuse occurs in every religious stream of Judaism, including those unaffiliated and equally in all economic categories....

Rebecca, a Jewish woman who is a survivor of domestic abuse, moved the estimated 300 people who attended the recent Goodman Jewish Family Service of Broward County Kolot Chai Tea to tears by sharing her testimony.

Because of concern over Rebecca's (not her actual name) safety over the abuse suffered by her husband, the specific details over her ordeal could not be published.

"I came out to share my testimony so that other women could know and feel safe. I want to encourage all women who are survivors to come to Jewish Family Services for help," said Rebecca at the fund raising event that took place at the Renaissance Hotel in Plantation.

The deep emotions that Rebecca resounded with leaders and staff of Jewish Family Service who wish to spread the word that domestic abuse in the Jewish community is a fact and not a myth.

Statistics obtained by organizations such as Jewish Women's International and Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse indicate that domestic abuse within the Jewish community occurs at the same rate as the general population in the United States.

Moreover, the studies indicate that abuse occurs in every religious stream of Judaism, including those unaffiliated and equally in all economic categories.

"GJFS Kolot has been a coalition of voices speaking out to end domestic abuse in the Jewish community since 1999," said Randee Lefkow, chairperson of the GJFS Kolot at the event.

"We are dedicated to educating and engaging youth, women, men, clergy and survivors to take a stand against domestic abuse."

"The human tragedy caused by abusers have been all over the headlines this year and people like you are ripping the veil off this malady and bringing it out to public view," said Jacob Schreiber, Chief Executive Officer of GJFS.

Lefkow and Schreiber both continued to emphasize the need for greater recognition of domestic abuse as well as the need to provide protection and assistance to victims, whom GJFS prefers to be called survivors.

Brochures distributed by GJFS and other agencies on domestic abuse indicate what the category means. JCADA refers to domestic abuse as involving acts of emotions (constant criticism, humiliating remarks), physical abuse, economic abuse (withholding credit cards, money, or keeping a partner from work), sexual abuse, threats and intimidation among other behaviors.

Thalia Rydz, who heads the domestic abuse program at GJFS, indicate that domestic abuse survivors come to GJFS through a variety of channels, such as a GJFS 24 hour support line, rabbis and synagogues, Jewish teen organizations, schools among other sources.

"We place 'Don't Suffer In Silence' plaques in the bathrooms at synagogues/temples, Jewish community centers and other Jewish organizations buildings," said Rydz.

GJFS alerts other Jewish organizations about their services and survivors also hear about the program through word of mouth from other survivors, family and friends, among other sources.

Survivors of domestic abuse many also include children in the family.

"Witnessing domestic abuse does constitute as child abuse. In addition, many times children are directly victimized by the abuser," said Rydz.

GJFS currently serves 42 survivors of domestic violence in Broward County with service impacting 120 children of survivors.

"Through individual counseling, case management and support groups, we educate and empower our clients to make their own choices, given their unique circumstances. We guide them based on their wants and needs. It is extremely important that we allow our clients to use their own voices in making their own decisions, because often, abusive relationships deny them of that privilege," added Rydz.

There were over 100 donors who offered items for sale at the silent auction of the Kolot Chai Tea event.

To learn more about Goodman Jewish Family Services, 100 S. Pine Island Road, Suite #230 in Plantation, call 954-370-2140 or go to www.jfsbroward.org

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/florida-jewish-journal/news/broward/fl-jjbs-kolot-1125-20151120-story.html

"To Those Who Would Dare Hurt a Child by Hunting Them Down For Your Own Depravity - GET HELP!"

Abuse in the Jewish community may appear less prevalent, but in general, child sexual abuse is severely under-reported....

Addressing Child Abuse in Our Community 

When child sexual abuse is discovered, it’s important to report it to the authorities immediately. This is absolutely critical for two reasons: It provides the child with the proper treatment and support that he or she will desperately need, and it serves to protect other children who may be, or have been, victimized by the abuser. 

  Consider this rude awakening: Statistics indicate that approximately one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually assaulted before age 18. It may be tempting to believe that such abuse is far less prevalent in the Jewish community, but this is not the case. Data suggests that child sexual abuse occurs within the Jewish community at around the same rate as in secular society.

Many, if not all, community members know that recent headlines have indicated that a member of our community was arrested in connection with allegations of child sexual abuse. The Jewish Link has joined with Jewish Family Service of Clifton-Passaic, the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County, and other institutions in supporting the victim and other potential victims, as well as the family members of the accused.

After consulting with a number of therapists, social workers and parents, we chose not to sensationalize or splash the details of the news on our front page where our children can easily access it. We want parents to have the power to share the information with their children on their children’s age level. The “Google generation” has every ability to learn the details of the case from other media sources. We have been told that if there is any chance that a child could find out about this, the parent should initiate dialogue with the child about what happened, on that child’s level. However, to protect innocent bystanders who live in our community, we’ve also decided not to join other news organizations in covering this terrible story, which could also cast unwanted attention upon the brave, underage victim who has come forward with his family and which would presumably include difficult details of a nuclear family in the process of shattering.

We believe the Jewish Link can be most helpful to the community by reviewing guidelines and warning signs with our readers about child sexual abuse. As editor of the Jewish Link, I worked with JLNJ contributor and clinical psychologist Dr. Shoval Gur-Aryeh to come up with clear directives and advice that may be helpful for our readers in speaking with children about sexual abuse. Dr. Gur-Aryeh has received specialized training regarding sex offenders and works with victims of sexual abuse. An article he wrote at the beginning of the summer about protecting children from sexual abuse was used as part of my preparation. I was also assisted by several other professionals in this field who have contributed significantly to this article, who, for a variety of reasons, have declined to be named.

Abuse in the Jewish community may appear less prevalent, but in general, child sexual abuse is severely under-reported. “Abused children may not come forward because they think they are to blame and often feel ashamed and guilty. Also, Orthodox parents may not generally be comfortable initiating discussions with their children about sex and inappropriate sexual contact. This can result in children feeling embarrassed about disclosing to anyone when they’ve been abused,” Gur-Aryeh said.

The recent reports underscore a disturbing reality. Dr. Gur-Aryeh reports that child victims of sexual abuse know their abuser in as many as 93 percent of cases. “Plain and simple, perpetrators are able to do what they do because they have access to children and because children (and their caretakers) are uninformed and unprepared to respond to these threats to their safety,” he said.

Dr. Gur-Aryeh points out the need to take reasonable steps to protect children while at the same time not becoming too reactionary. For example, in light of the news reports, children may be apprehensive to see a psychotherapist and parents may be reluctant to trust a therapist with their child. While understandable, such a reaction is potentially harmful if it leads families away from seeking the help that children need.

Dr. Gur-Aryeh adds, “What compounds the trust issue further is the fact that children are typically alone with their therapist during sessions. There are very good reasons for this, including that children may feel inhibited from being open and forthcoming about what is really troubling them if their parents are present.”

When parents do not attend the therapy sessions, Dr. Gur-Aryeh suggests they process the sessions with their children afterward. “It’s important not to make children feel pressured to reveal what is discussed in therapy or it can undermine the therapy and possibly make their children feel more distressed. Encourage disclosure, rather than insist upon it,” advises Gur-Aryeh. And, of course, parents should communicate with their child’s therapist so they are informed. This will create a comfortable space for children to divulge to their parents should anything inappropriate occur.

Parents can reduce the risk of their children being victimized by reviewing some basic safety measures with them. Dr. Gur-Aryeh and others have prepared the following suggestions:

General Conversation Tips for Parents to Discuss With Their Children About Sexual Abuse

1. Children should understand that it’s never okay to “keep a secret” from their parents. Children need to understand that parents would want them to tell, even if the perpetrator discourages or threatens. Children need to know that they will never get in trouble if they tell someone about being sexually abused.

2. In plain language, children should be educated about their bodies, e.g. proper names of organs.

3. Children should understand that any touch or language that makes them feel uncomfortable should be disclosed, whether someone is trying to touch or view their private parts (this can simply be defined as parts covered by a bathing suit) or any other parts of their bodies if it makes them uncomfortable. The reverse is true as well. They should never be asked to touch or view other people’s private parts.

4. Being touched in an inappropriate manner is an obvious example of sexual abuse. Less obvious to children is being spoken to in a way that reflects sexual intent. Educate your children about this and empower them to trust their instincts.

Predators who might ‘groom’ children for abuse might begin by using inappropriate talk, but the various professionals we spoke to indicated that grooming appears in a many different ways and anyone with questions on this should reach out to a therapist, pyschologist or other licensed professional.

5. If children are away from home, help them identify one or more trusted adults they can speak to until they are able to talk to you. For example, a psychologist or teacher if they are in school.

6. Have this conversation with your child starting at a young age (approximately four years old) and repeat it at least annually. Good times to have the conversation are before school or camp begin.

How to Respond If a Child Is Abused

According to some estimates, as many as 40 percent of children do not show signs of having been sexually abused. Gur-Aryeh says that Hollywood portrayals would have us believe that children who have been sexually abused provide clear, detailed accounts of their abuse. “In reality, children often tell their story gradually, after a period of time has elapsed, and through indirect hints or subtle references to the abuse. Often, this is done because the child is unsure if the person they’re telling will believe them or criticize them,” said Gur-Aryeh.

No single sign will reveal if a child has been abused, but observing a collection of signs may suggest that further attention is warranted, according to Gur-Aryeh. Some signs include:

Sudden nightmares and other unexplained sleep problems

Being uncharacteristically distracted and distant

Severe mood swings

Sudden fear of certain people or places

Sudden preoccupation with drawing or talking about sexual topics, or engaging in sexualized behavior

The final pieces of advice, gleaned from several clinicians: Stay calm. If/when your child discloses and you become hysterical, it will frighten the child. Thank them for telling you, reinforce that if they were touched, made to feel uncomfortable, etc., it is not okay—and not their fault—and reassure them that you will do everything possible to prevent it from happening again.

When child sexual abuse is discovered, it’s important to report it to the authorities immediately. This is absolutely critical for two reasons: It provides the child with the proper treatment and support that he or she will desperately need, and it serves to protect other children who may be, or have been, victimized by the abuser.

Northern New Jersey has several Jewish agencies that provide valuable treatment for children who’ve been victimized, as well as preventative educational programs for children and their caregivers. Project S.A.R.A.H. includes the Aleinu Safety Kid program that is designed to educate and train children and their parents, schools and camps about child sexual abuse.

http://jewishlinknj.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10414:addressing-child-abuse-in-our-community&catid=156:features&Itemid=585

Instead of demonizing Israel, bring their experienced, trained experts to Europe to develop a coherent counterterror strategy....

Europe’s Terrorist War at Home

Learn from Israel, end the open-borders policy, and dig in for a long war of ideas against Islamists.

313 COMMENTS 

 

French President François Hollande declared the Nov. 13 terrorist attack in Paris an “act of war” by Islamic State, and he was right, if belated, in recognizing that the jihadists have been at war with the West for years. Islamic State, or ISIS, is vowing more attacks in Europe, and so Europe itself—not just France—must get on a war footing, uniting to do whatever it takes militarily to destroy ISIS and its so-called caliphate in Syria and Iraq. Not “contain,” not “degrade”—destroy, period.

But even if ISIS is completely destroyed, Islamic extremism itself will not go away. If anything, the destruction of ISIS would increase the religious fervor of those within Europe who long for a caliphate.
European leaders must make some major political decisions, and perhaps France can lead the way. A shift in mentality is needed to avoid more terror attacks on an even bigger scale and the resulting civil strife. Islamic extremists will never succeed in turning Europe into a Muslim continent. What they may well do is provoke a civil war so that parts of Europe end up looking like the Balkans in the early 1990s.

Here are three steps that European leaders could take to eradicate the cancer of Islamic extremism from their midst.

First, learn from Israel, which has been dealing with Islamist terror from the day it was born and dealing with much more frequent threats to its citizens’ security. True, Islamic extremists inside Israel today resort to using knives and cars as their weapons of choice, but that is because attacks like those in Paris last week are now simply impossible for the terrorists to organize. Instead of demonizing Israel, bring their experienced, trained experts to Europe to develop a coherent counterterror strategy.

Second, dig in for a long battle of ideas. European leaders will have to address the infrastructure of indoctrination: mosques, Muslim schools, websites, publishing houses and proselytizing material (pamphlets, books, treatises, sermons) that serve as conveyor belts to violence. Islamic extremists target Muslim populations through dawa (persuasion), convincing them that their ends are legitimate before turning to the question of means.

European governments must do their own proselytizing in Muslim communities, promoting the superiority of liberal ideas. This means directly challenging the Islamic theology that is used by the Islamist predators to turn the heads and hearts of Muslims with the intent of converting them into enemies of their host countries.
Third, Europeans must design a new immigration policy that admits immigrants only if they are committed to adopt European values and to reject precisely the Islamist politics that makes them vulnerable to the siren song of the caliphate.

There are distinct weaknesses in Europe’s current immigration policy: It is too easy to gain citizenship without necessarily being loyal to national constitutions; it is too easy for outsiders to get into European Union countries with or without credible claims for asylum; and, thanks to the open-borders policy known as Schengen, it is too easy for foreigners, once they are in the EU, to travel freely from country to country. This state of affairs has been revealed as unsustainable by this year’s migrant flood into Europe.

Does this amount to “Fortress Europe,” with a new Iron Curtain to the east and a naval cordon sanitaire in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic? Yes. For no other strategy makes sense, given a threat like the one posed to Europe by Islamic extremism. And if Europe’s leaders persist, like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in making a virtue of the openness of their borders, they will soon be chased out of office by populists better attuned to public feeling.

The trouble is that such people generally bring to the table other ideas beyond immigration control—not least the kind of fervent, illiberal nationalism that has torn Europe apart in the past.

To achieve all this, Europe would need to overhaul treaties, laws and policies—in other words, take steps that before the atrocities in Paris on Friday couldn’t even be discussed. Maybe this will be the watershed moment for Europe to rethink the path it has been traveling.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/europes-terrorist-war-at-home-1447626449

Ms. Hirsi Ali, a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of “Heretic: The Case for a Muslim Reformation” (HarperCollins, 2015).

"If you had somebody who, as president, who wanted to take America down, who wanted to fundamentally weaken our position in the world, reduce our capacity to influence events, turn our back on our allies and encourage our enemies, it would look exactly like what Barack Obama is doing. I think his actions are constituted in my mind are those of the worst president we’ve ever had...." Time For The Congress To Remove Obama From Office!

Obama ‘Wants to Take America Down’…’Worst President Ever’

Dick Cheney takes the gloves off in this screed on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. 

HUGH HEWITT: Let me play for both of you a cut from earlier today. The president sat down with an NPR reporter who asked him about Scott Walker’s statement on this show last week that he’s repudiate the emerging Iran hologram–I don’t call it a deal–on day one. Here’s what the president said.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Any president who gets elected will be knowledgeable enough on foreign policy and knowledgeable enough about the traditions and precedents of presidential power that they won’t start calling into question the capacity of the executive branch of the United States to enter into agreements with other countries. If that starts being questioned, that’s going to be a problem for our friends and that’s going to embolden our enemies and it would be a foolish approach to take. Perhaps Mr. Walker, after he’s taken some time to bone up on foreign policy, will feel the same way.

HEWITT: Vice President Cheney, you’ve been boning up on foreign policy since you entered the House 30 years ago. What do you make of that statement.

DICK CHENEY: Well it starts from a flawed presumption on Obama’s part. For most of the last 70 years since World War II, we’ve had a bipartisan record in this country between Democrat and Republican. Harry Truman, Jack Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, the Bush’s believed America had to play a leading role in the world and needs to maintain first class military capability to do that and occasionally use it. That the world works best with U.S. leadership. 

The first president, really, who doesn’t–no longer believe that fundamental truth is Barack Obama. What he’s saying, his criticism of Governor Walker–I think probably Governor Walker welcomes it. It’s almost like a paid commercial. I heard today as soon as the statement came out from Obama criticizing the governor, he immediately sent out to all of his supporters. I’m glad he did that. It’s a mark of weakness of this president that he’d say such a thing.

HEWITT: Is he naive, Mr. Vice President? Or does he have a far reaching vision that only he entertains of a realigned Middle East. That somehow it all works out in the end.

CHENEY: I don’t know Hugh. I vacillate between the various theories I’ve heard. If you had somebody who, as president, who wanted to take America down. Who wanted to fundamentally weaken our position in the world, reduce our capacity to influence events. Turn our back on our allies and encourage our enemies, it would look exactly like what Barack Obama is doing. I think his actions are constituted in my mind are those of the worst president we’ve ever had.

http://clashdaily.com/2015/04/dick-cheney-opens-can-of-whup-ass-obama-wants-to-take-america-down-worst-president-ever/

The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution deals with succession to the Presidency and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, as well as responding to Presidential disabilities. It supersedes the ambiguous wording of Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution, which does not expressly state whether the Vice President becomes the President or Acting President if the President dies, resigns, is removed from office or is otherwise unable to discharge the powers of the presidency.^[1] The Twenty-fifth Amendment was adopted on February 10, 1967.<sup>[2]

ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution</sup>

First They Came For The Jews....851 recorded anti-Semitic incidents in France in 2014, more than doubling the total from 2013.

The Troubling Question in the French Jewish Community: Is It Time to Leave For Good?

Dubbed France's Kristallnacht, French Jews experienced a night of horror in Paris on July 13, 2014.

A demonstrator at a pro-Palestinian rally throws a rock toward riot police during a protest in Paris, June 19, 2014.

In 1182, the French expelled the Jew. Hundred of years later, on August 20-21, 1941, the French police rounded up the Jew, including little children, and sent them to Drancy--before the Germans even came, after which they were gassed in Aushwitz. Just last year, in 2014, 7,086 Jews left France for Israel, in the face of unremitting Jew-hatred. And here is why: thousands of Frenchmen, marching in the streets, shouting: JEWS, OUT OF FRANCE!!! JEWS, JEWS, JEWS!!! 

Marie Brenner reports on an incendiary wave of anti-Semitism in France and speaks firsthand to one of the hostages from the siege on the Hyper Cacher kosher market.

‘How can anyone be allowed to paint a swastika on the statue of Marianne, the goddess of French liberty, in the very center of the Place de la République?”

That was what the chairman of one of France’s most celebrated luxury brands was thinking last July, when a tall man in a black shirt and a kaffiyeh leapt to the ledge of Marianne’s pedestal and scrawled a black swastika. All around him, thousands of angry demonstrators were swarming the square with fake rockets, Palestinian and Hamas flags, even the black-and-white banners of ISIS. Here, barely a mile and a half from the Galeries Lafayette, the heart of bourgeois Paris, the chants: “MORT AUX JUIFS! MORT AUX JUIFS!” Death to the Jews. It was Saturday, July 26, 2014, and a pro-Palestinian demonstration turned into a day of terror in one of the most fashionable neighborhoods of the city.

“Do something! Do you see what is happening here?” the chairman said to a line of police officers watching the demonstration build to a frenzy. “What do you expect us to do?” one officer said, then looked away. For years, the chairman, a longtime anti-racism activist, has turned up at rallies like this one to see which politicians and which radical groups were present. (For reasons of personal safety, the chairman asked not to be identified for this story.) France’s endless demonstrations are a mainstay of the republic, a sacred right rooted in the legacy of Voltaire. But hate speech is a criminal offense—people may express their opinions, but not to the extent of insulting others based on their race, religion, or sex. The protest—against Israel’s Gaza policies—had been banned by the government, fearful of violence, following flare-ups in the preceding weeks. But if the police were to move in too quickly, the riots might continue all summer long—suburbs in flames, mobs in central Paris.

Photographs and videos of the swastika and its perpetrator, of protesters chanting “Kill the Jews,” and of the Palestinian, Hamas, and ISIS flags were sent in a rush to various groups in the Jewish community who assess threats. By early afternoon, some of these reached Sammy Ghozlan, a 72-year-old retired police commissioner who has spent his career working the banlieues, the belt of working-class, racially mixed suburbs that surround Paris. Ghozlan is a folk hero of the banlieues and has a nickname that is impossible to forget: le poulet cacher—“the kosher chicken.” (Poulet is slang for cop.) For 15 years, he has overseen France’s National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism—known by its French abbreviation, B.N.V.C.A.—a community hotline he founded that is funded by his police pension and whatever small donations he can come by. Its purpose is nothing less than to protect the Jews of France.

Sammy Ghozlan, photographed by Uriel Sinai, at his new home, in Netanya, Israel. By Uriel Sinai.

This past year, Ghozlan’s frequent bulletins—detailing attacks in parks, schools attacked, synagogues torched, assaults on the Métro—have clogged the in-boxes of reporters at Le Monde, Le Figaro, and Le Parisien, and of thousands of Jews throughout the banlieues. Ghozlan’s bulletins sometimes come twice a day, with claims that have also been backed up by hard numbers: according to a watchdog group, the Jewish Community Protection Service, or S.P.C.J., which reports statistics collected by the country’s Interior Ministry, there were 851 recorded anti-Semitic incidents in France in 2014, more than doubling the total from 2013. Ghozlan and his 19 volunteers are on the front lines in the most troubled areas, documenting, trying to confirm, hoping to get a reporter or a police prefect or a court to take action. There has been such an uptick, and such a flurry of alerts from Ghozlan over the past year, that there’s always a risk that his efforts will be shrugged off as yet another nuisance.

Just two weeks before the July 26 riot, Ghozlan’s texts and messages did not stop. It was Bastille Day weekend, and, on Sunday, July 13, he tracked the hundreds of protesters who rushed into the Marais, Paris’s historic Jewish quarter, stopping briefly at an empty synagogue on the Rue des Tournelles, near the Place des Vosges, and then racing, reportedly with iron bars, axes, and flags, toward the Rue de la Roquette, a boutique-and-café-lined street a few blocks from the apartment of Prime Minister Manuel Valls. Their destination was the Don Isaac Abravanel synagogue. Inside, the 200 worshippers—including the chief rabbi of Paris—heard the howls from the crowd, estimated to number about 300: “Hitler was right!” “Jews, get out of France!” Audrey Zenouda, a policewoman who happened to be inside the synagogue, called her father, a retired policeman who works with Ghozlan at the B.N.V.C.A. “Do something. We are terrified here.”

“I knew that if anyone could get the police to take action it would be Sammy and the B.N.V.C.A.,” Zenouda later told me. Only six police officers were assigned to be on demonstration duty that day. “We are waiting for the assault police to arrive,” one told a reporter at the scene. After an hour, a counterterrorism force rescued the chief rabbi, but everyone else was left inside, behind doors barricaded from the inside with chairs and tables. Outside, members of a special security patrol and a dozen members of the self-trained Ligue de Défense Juive began chasing off the demonstrators with chairs and tables from nearby cafés, working with a small unit from the security force. Together, it took them three hours to disperse the crowd and safely evacuate the synagogue.

Almost immediately afterward, the reports of the July 13 demonstration would be challenged and debated. The numbers would be skeptically parsed—were there really so many?—and questions would be asked about actions that might have provoked the violence, as if carrying iron bars and axes around central Paris might be normal. In some circles, there were even accusations that the Jews “brought on the behavior,” as they always do.....


 READ MORE:
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/07/anti-semitism-france-hostage-hyper-cacher-kosher-market