Europe: Requests for public funds to protect Jewish communities generate resentment, anti-Semitic response

Via i24 News:

Yet one concern might be shared by all Jewish communities. “Whenever we demand from the authorities to increase security, we see anti-Semitic comments on websites saying, 'why should the government take care of you? If you want security, pay for it yourself',” says Margolin. Afri fears the same reaction: “Some French media pointed out that the cost of assigning troops to guard Jewish institutions is about one million euros per day. We are working on the political level to explain that this is an important expenditure, but we are worried that people will resent the high costs.”

“The financial crisis of the Jewish communities can't be discussed publicly,” emphasizes Michael Gilad, Chair of the Jewish community in the west German City of Krefeld. “That would just increase the hatred and make people say, ‘look at how much more money they want from us’. But the funds we are receiving from the government aren't covering the cost of even half of the security measures we need. This is the situation in all of Germany,” he stresses, despite Schuster’s reassurance.