That's Ariel Sharon, Israeli PM, depiction of the plight of French Jews.
Mr. Sharon went on to say:

"Altogether I have to advocate to our brothers in France: move to Israel as early as possible."  

"That's what I say to Jews all around the world but there (France) I think it's a must. They have to move immediately."

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs sputtered its pro forma indignation and muddle.

Chirac's office issued a statement Monday night seeking "an explanation": 

"(France) has let it be known that from today an eventual visit by the Israeli prime minister to Paris, for which no date had been set, would not be considered until such an explanation is forthcoming," it said.

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, who had earlier described the comments as "unacceptable and intolerable", said Tuesday that he was still awaiting an explanation.   "As I speak, we have received no reply to our request for an explanation," he told Europe 1 radio.  

Describing the row with Israel as a "very serious misunderstanding," he said that it was "a matter of honour for our republic ... that each citizen is guaranteed the same protections, the same freedoms, whatever their religious belief."

Just what sort of explanation could enlarge Mr. Sharon's plain-spoken words?

As Jack regularly peeks in on the Pave community, let me offer the bated explanation:

The current French government treats anti-Semitism as a public relations problem. It has staged repeated public hand-wringings yet with each call to apply "the greatest severity and the greatest exemplarity", French anti-Semitic acts increase.

French anti-Semitism stories are stock in trade here at Pave, but whether France is irredeemably anti-Semitic or just snotty and xenophobic, France holds little allure and less security for her Jews. While France spins, Jack pouting and M. Barnier huffing over French "honor" are equal parts pathetic and derelict and laughable. French honor should reside in good deeds not good publicity.

[All emphases added.]

UPDATE 07.20.04: Malcolm Hoenlein, director of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said in an interview with The Associated Press that Chirac overreacted and caused an "artificial crisis" and his comments Monday could actually lead to more anti-Semitism.

"I think perhaps Mr. Chirac is attempting to divert attention from their failure to address the anti-Semitism, to apprehend those responsible," Hoenlein said. "They have made steps that I think are important but they certainly have not dealt seriously enough with the issue of anti-Semitism."

"I don't doubt that Mr. Chirac and the people in his government are concerned about the rise in anti-Semitism, but they shouldn't blame the victims," Hoenlein said. "It's time for them to admit who's responsible and to go after the countries that aid and abet those who continue to perpetrate this hatred, incitement and violence." He did not identify the countries.

[Emphasis added.]

Sharon's comments have been roundly criticized by the French Jewish community including the top Rabbis in Lyon and Paris citing that "Leaving France is out of the question". Indeed, Sharon's comments are inacceptable. Regarding Mugabe, he was invited in France at an African conference in Paris in which other African nations threatened not to go he wasn't invited. He certainly did not get the honor Saddam once had in Detroit in 1980, being named "Honorary Citizen of Detroit".

Oh, but you "didn't know" back then... Right.

He did not identify the countries.

Well, for starters, we could look at the countries that voted for the UN General Assembly resolution demanding that the Israeli SECURITY fence be torn down. How did the EU do? All 25 European Union countries voted in support of the Palestinian-drafted measure.

M. Zoomerx,

Honorary citizen of Detroit hardly compares to the vaunted honorary citizenship of Paris, an honor awarded Mumia Abu-Jamal, a convicted murderer.

Oh, but then, you knew that at the time.

And certainly you are right that Detroit should have been more circumspect when investing Saddam as one of their own. Hadn't Jack been warning the free world since 1974 about his bloody "personal friend"?

Oh, but you "didn't know" back then...bequiled by all the footsie on the couch, the intimate bungalow weekends, and the lucrative reactor business.

As for Mr. Sharon's comments, well. one or two voices in France's corner is enough Jewish community for you. Here are some French Jews that didn't rate your attention:

Menahem Gourary, the Jewish Agency's European director, has been working on a new drive to promote emigration to Israel. Named the Sarcelles project, after a rough Parisian suburb which is home to large Jewish and Arab communities, the campaign is targeted at residents of under-privileged parts of France - in Paris, Lyon and Marseille - where racial tensions are high. Mr Gourary said: "We believe 95% of the attacks against Jews are committed by Muslims of North African origin; this is the problem which France has never addressed."

Sandrine Cohen, 29, will be on the flight next Wednesday with her husband and her four young daughters aged between seven and 18 months. Pregnant with her fifth child, the optician decided in January that it was time to leave. ... "Our family has been attacked several times in the past five years. We've been called dirty Jews in the street and we've been sent hate mail, and the police have failed to help us," she said yesterday.

DGB

Zoomerx is free to trade places with any French Jew who would like to not hide out from his or her neighbors in fear. I'll stay with the good old USA, land of freedom, and the guns to keep it that way.

Smoke that, froggie!

Honorary citizen of Detroit hardly compares to the vaunted honorary citizenship of Paris, an honor awarded Mumia Abu-Jamal, a convicted murderer.

And Saddam is not? I don't know the details of Jamal's case but I've heard that many prominent Americans also find him innocent.

By the way, I find it amazing that anti-semitism in Germany is rarely mentioned in the US press, an anti-semitism that has had far more violent consequences. Not to ignore the problem, but no Jew has been decapitated and dragged out from a pickup truck here... No Jew has been killed like a Sikh and a muslim father were the day after 9/11, in your country. If you look at the ADL website, you'll notice that anti-semitism is also on the rise in the US. The great majority of anti-semitic attacks in France have been perpetrated by young French muslims, by the way, no doubt in the context of today's escalading events in Palestine and the Middle East, certainly a difficult situation to deal with when France has the largest Jewish/Muslim population in Western Europe.

Hadn't Jack been warning the free world since 1974 about his bloody "personal friend"?

In 1975. Irrelevant.

i Zoomerx is free to trade places with any French Jew who would like to not hide out from his or her neighbors in fear. I'll stay with the good old USA, land of freedom, and the guns to keep it that way.

Land of Freedom... how do you explain your enormous prison population (higher than Russia), and the fact that 1 out of 3 black-American is likely to be, or end up in jail in his lifetime according to your own sources?

Guns... If "Freedom" to you equates your ridiculous world record of death by handguns and overstuffed prison population, you got to be kidding or listening too much country music, partner.

Land Of Freedom... Yes it is in many, many respects (other than shooting someone's brains out for looking suspicious), but it hasn't always been the case, has it?

a convicted murderer…..And Saddam is not?
Well, not yet. But we are working on that.

but it hasn't always been the case, has it?
Pre 1975? That would be irrelevant.

Perhaps Sharon had the article The Fatherland Betrayed by the Republic by French novelist Jean Raspail in mind. From the June 17 issue of Figaro.
“I am convinced that the fate of France is sealed….because the situation is moving irreversibly towards the final swing in 2050 which will see French stock amounting to only half the population of the country, the remainder comprising Africans, Moors and Asians of all sorts form the inexhaustible reserve of the Third World, predominantly Islamic…this dance is only the beginning.”
“France is not the only concern. All of Europe marches to its death….”
“What I cannot understand and which plunges me into an abyss of sorry perplexity, is why and how so many informed Frenchmen and so many French politicians contribute knowingly, methodically, I don’t dare to say cynically, to the certain immolation of France….on the altar of an aggravated utopian humanism.”
Sharon perhaps feels that the situation in France will only get worse. Move now, before it gets worse.

Questions:
Is this author, Raspail, known as xenophobic or mainstream?
I’ve ask this before, but gotten no response: How “conservative” is Le Figaro in their political views? Any frog posters read it?
Are you French posters worried about the rise in the numbers of “Muslims” etc. in the French population?

Pre 1975? That would be irrelevant

There's a difference between Chirac diplomatically calling Saddam a "friend" and segregating your own citizens for decades.

Is this author, Raspail, known as xenophobic or mainstream?

I would say rather mainstream. Sure, the rise of muslim population in France is a very legitimate concern, in fact, I would say that the French are far more "anti-arabs" than anti-semites as a whole. If there is a French flaw you can fairly point at, I would say it would a certain apathy towards these problems. I don't beleive the mainstream French are any more "anti-semite" as the mainstream US, who hold the same kind of unfounded ideas about Jews (see the ADL website).

How “conservative” is Le Figaro in their political views?

Just conservative, but not in your sense of "conservatism". The US equivalent of center- right, I guess. They've criticized Michael Moore's views, by the way, as "clichés".

If there is a French flaw you can fairly point at, I would say it would a certain apathy towards these problems

Interesting. An article in Washington Post last week touches on this point. The article is about Chirac and Sarkozy. It said “Chirac is of that generation that believes France cannot be changed”. But are not most of the French electorate asking “Where is the change?”

The article points out that “French opinion seems to underscore the view that change is needed and that Sarkozy would bring it”. (immigration reform, unemployment, EU deficit, etc).

I had to chuckle at his “quarrel” with Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie over defense spending. Says she was “bailed out” by Chirac (but for how long?).

What do you think about Sarkozy, or as the article calls him “Super Sarko”?

Since this post was about anti-Semitism it should be noted that the Simon Wiesenthal Center, after meeting with Sarkozy downgraded the groups travel advisory for Jews visiting France from “extreme caution” to “caution” if they wore overtly Jewish clothing and symbols. Still, “caution”, nowadays, should be everyone’s attitude traveling anywhere in the world.

He just forgot to mention that there are a lot more jewish killed in Israel (specially since he is president ) that in France!! When you want to make a point against France, don't follow new fachist, to easy for us to answer!!!

This site places the Israeli death toll at 880 over roughly 39 months. Factor out 179 combatants killed, and that averages to 215 non-combatant Israelis killed per year. With a Jewish population roughly 1/10th of Israel's, France only needs 21.5 per year to match that jewicide rate. Now factor in the new wall which has nearly ceased attacks against non-combatants within Israel; is Israel really statistically that much more dangerous a place for Jews?

What do you think about Sarkozy, or as the article calls him “Super Sarko”?

He might be the shot in the arm that France needs, imo.

Zoomer, do you live in Canada or France?