France: French Jews drawn to security of London

The Financial Times reports:

When armed guards appeared in front of her children’s school in Paris, Sabine decided it was time to leave her native France.

A resident of Boulogne, a Jewish district in the French capital, she had become increasingly concerned about anti-semitism and was fearful of showing any sign in public that she was Jewish.  The last straw came a year ago when a gunman killed four people at the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket on the other side of the city.

“The Jews don’t have a future in France,” she said from her new home in London, where she moved in July with her husband and three children.

In London, she said, “there are a lot of people from a lot of countries. The English people have accepted [this]. London seems a lot safer than Paris. It is not the same in France.”  [...]

Daniel Turner, chairman of Brondesbury Park synagogue in north-west London, said he had noticed that more French Jews were moving into the area. “Anti-semitism is only moving in one direction in France,” he said. “They’re all very happy to not be there.”

London was an easy choice because it was accessible from France, had an established Jewish community and a booming economy, he said. Of the Jews in his community, “when you get on to security matters, the ones most vocal about security measures we should put in place are the French”.

One member of Mr Turner’s synagogue said he had noticed a big rise in the number of French-speaking pupils at the large Jewish primary school his children attended. “In year one, it is about 10 per cent of kids who speak French. In reception, it goes up to 30 per cent and in nursery I would say it’s about half.”

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(H/T Watch Antisemitsm in Europe)