French Elites Can’t Keep Ignoring Anti-Semitism
Immigrant communities and French elites hold mistaken views that are mutually reinforcing.
No use denying.
Photographer: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images
When France got rid of military service, it introduced instead a mandatory one-day seminar on “defense readiness” for all 18-year-olds. The day I had mine, there was a morning of presentations delivered by a meek reserve officer, who used a photo of the Sept. 11 attacks to help explain that France had a military, in part, to defend against terrorism.
That was the moment when one of the attendees, with the recognizable accent of the French “banlieues” — the immigrant-heavy suburbs — made his assertion: “It wasn’t terrorists who did Sept. 11. It was the Israelis, with missiles. I saw it on video.” The officer let it go.