"Due to Antisemitism in France, At Least Our Children Receive a Better Jewish Education"

For decades, many non-religious Jews in France habitually sent their children to public schools, known for their good reputation and multicultural environment. But not anymore. In a special report by The Jerusalem Post yesterday, a new situation was described: Even parents who themselves studied in the French public education system now choose to send their children to Jewish schools.

Stephane Tiar, who graduated from a high school in Paris 25 years ago, says he has good memories of that time, but he sends his son and daughter to Jewish institutions despite the high tuition fees. "Sending a Jewish child to a public school was normal when I was a child," says Tiar. "But today—forget it. It's just impossible. The antisemitic bullying of Jewish students would simply be too harmful for any Jewish child enrolling in a public school."

Official data shows that 30 years ago, most French Jews sent their children to public schools, but today only a third of French Jews do so. The rest attend Jewish or other private schools, says Francis Kalifat, the new president of CRIF, the umbrella organization for Jewish communities in France. "The change has been particularly dramatic in the Paris area, which is home to about 350,000 Jews, accounting for 65% of all French Jews," says Kalifat. "In the Paris area, you simply can't find Jewish students in French schools anymore." She attributes this phenomenon to a hostile environment of insults and attacks against Jews in public schools, on one hand, and the flourishing of Jewish educational institutions, on the other.

The rise in various attacks against French Jews is traced back to the year 2000. In public schools, as elsewhere, most attacks are perpetrated by Muslims. While the most memorable attack against Jewish students in France was the Toulouse shooting, where a teacher and his two children, as well as the daughter of the school director, were murdered, Jewish schools are now perceived by parents as safer: The French government secures all Jewish schools, most of them protected by soldiers armed with automatic rifles.

The Jerusalem Post further reports that a situation similar to that in France is developing in nearby Belgium, also home to a large Muslim community from which many terrorist activists have emerged. "Antisemitic incidents in schools are turning Belgium's public schools into Jew-free zones," says the Belgian League Against Antisemitism. Jewish sources in Belgium even accuse the Belgian education system of showing too much tolerance for antisemitism within school walls, especially compared to France.

Stephane Tiar, however, is one of the Jewish parents in France who sees a positive side to the developments preventing him from sending his children to public education. "The fact that parents like me cannot actually send their children to public schools—it's a tragic thing," he says. "The only positive aspect I can see is that antisemitic hate compels us to bear the financial cost of Jewish school and raise a generation with much more Jewish knowledge than our own."