Burning Synagogues

No one moralizes better than the French, but where are they when you really need them? French political leaders have been busy denouncing Israel for defending itself against suicide bombers, but perhaps they should save some of that Gallic moral temper for the worst outbreak of anti-Semitism in Europe in 60 years.

France is home to 600,000 Jews, Europe's largest Jewish community, and in recent days many of them have been under assault. Synagogues have been set aflame in Strasbourg, Lyon and in Brussels, Belgium. One in Marseilles was burnt to the ground on Easter Sunday, and Molotov cocktails were tossed at another on Tuesday. A pavilion at a Jewish cemetery in Alsace was destroyed this week, while a flammable liquid was thrown at a synagogue in the same town. A fracas broke out at Orly airport in Paris Tuesday between pro- and anti-Israeli demonstrators.

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin responded to this by saying on radio that it is "extremely difficult" to guarantee security at all places where Jews gather. That's certainly how Jews in Tel Aviv now feel.
Mr. Jospin also kept his moral outrage in check by adding that the best antidote to the violence is "reflection by citizens, understanding that passions that flare up in the Middle East must not flare up here." Reflection does wonders for people who are reflective, to be sure, so perhaps Monsieur Jospin will reflect on the impact of his own political leadership on such religious animus.

Let's stipulate that it should be possible to criticize Israel without being tarred as anti-Semitic, just as any European or American Jew should be able to praise the Jewish state without being accused of dual loyalty. To make either charge admits to having run out of ideas.

But opinion in Europe, especially official opinion, is now so one-sided against Israel that it's bound to have some public consequences. After Israel launched an attack late last week to isolate Yasser Arafat, without harming him, European governments rose in unison with condemnations. The European Union, which took years to respond to ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, had no trouble finding unity on its pro-Arafat call for an Israeli withdrawal from Ramallah. The speaker of the Greek parliament accused Israel of "genocide" against the Palestinians.

French President Jacques Chirac said that "any attack on [Arafat's] ability to act, or on his person, would be extremely serious." Does Mr. Arafat's ability to act include dispatching suicide bombers? As usual, Monsieur le President was outdone in verve by his foreign minister, Hubert Vedrine, who said Israel was trying to "asphyxiate Arafat."

All of this contrasts with the temperate reactions to the previous week's suicide bombings. And all of this from the same French government that declined to recall its ambassador to Britain when he created a ruckus last December by referring to Israel as "that s----- little country." Ambassador Daniel Bernard added, "Why should the world be in danger of World War III because of those people?"

Political leaders set a moral tone, as the French like to remind George W. Bush, and it's hard to believe all of this doesn't feed into latent anti-Semitic sentiment. Especially given Europe's terrible history, one would think its leadership would be careful before declaring that Jews are responsible for everything terrible in the Mideast.

Amid the latest violence and campaigning for re-election, Mr. Chirac did visit a synagogue in Le Havre. "These acts are unimaginable, unpardonable and unspeakable and should be pursued and condemned as such," he said. Perhaps he's realized that the French don't have standing to criticize Jews abroad if they can't protect them at home.