Europe: 'Euro Jewry needs shift in mindset on security'

Two victimes of the massacre at the
Jewish museum in Brussels perpetrated
by Frenchman Mehdi Nemmouche

The most extraordinary example is the Jewish Museum in Brussels where a Muslim killed four people.  There wasn't any security in place.  Marc Blondel, the Museum curator, and Jewish leaders, wanted it to be an open place for all to visit...

The Jewish Chronicle reports:

Jewish groups in Europe are realising that they cannot rely solely on the intelligence services, the police or even their own - often threadbare - security organisations for protection.

This was one of the key messages to emerge at the American Jewish Committee's conference on antisemitism, titled "A Defining Moment for Europe", which took place in Brussels on Tuesday.

Since the attacks in Paris in January, all Jewish sites in France have had 24-hour police protection. But that exceptional measure will end - the date has not been publicised - and when that happens, the communities will have to come up with more creative ways to secure themselves.

"When the current deployment stops, something else needs to be in place," said John Farmer, a law professor at Rutgers University. "Europeans have to adopt the 'see something, say something' policy, like in the US.

"We need to change the mindset," said Jonathan Fischer, vice-president of Denmark's Jewish community. "The way we want to live our lives is no longer possible. We can't count only on security services, on intelligence services. Today makeshift jihadists are asked not to communicate, so intelligence services can't spot them." [...]

The three Muslim panellists at the conference denounced European governments' cooperation with radical Muslim groups.  "European governments say that these groups were elected but studies show they represent a small fraction of Muslims - four to six per cent. Making them the partners only emboldens them and gives them legitimacy," said Imam Yahya Pallavecini, from Milan. "You have to encourage the secular and moderate Muslims." More.