There was another snapshot moment over the weekend of the persecution of Jews in Europe when a French rabbi was attacked in broad daylight while returning home from synagogue with his nine-year-old son.
Orléans rabbi Arié Engelberg was allegedly hit on the head, bitten and verbally insulted—including in Arabic—in the city centre on Saturday. A 16-year-old suspect has been arrested, and is understood to be known under at least three identities—one Moroccan and two Palestinian.
According to Engelberg’s account, the attacker asked if he was Jewish before launching his attack. People nearby stepped in when the altercation—which the suspect was keen to have on film—became physical.
At a Paris rally against antisemitism on Sunday, one student told AFP:
We’re worried, because today we see that someone who is identified as Jewish in the street in France is being targeted.
Emmanuel Macron said the attack “shocks us all,” offering “all our fellow citizens of the Jewish faith my full support and that of the nation.”
Commentator Michaël Sadoun dismissed the president’s “empty words” and accused him of failing to “find a remedy for [antisemitism] while you are in power.” Sadoun pointed in particular to migration, asking:
Have you spent three seconds considering the issue of imported Islamic antisemitism that flares up at the slightest tension in the Middle East, and that makes European Jews dependent on international circumstances? No. Do you see any implications for your immigration policy? No.
Monsieur le Président,
— Michaël Sadoun (@MichaelSadoun) March 23, 2025
Votre hommage et votre « soutien », bien que sincères, sont inutiles. Certains diront même qu’ils sont creux et inconséquents : des paroles en l’air.
Ce « poison » de l’antisémitisme dont vous parlez, vous refusez catégoriquement de lui trouver un remède…
Even before the October 7th terror attacks, France’s Jewish population suffered a large brunt of reported religious-based crimes. In the months immediately after, antisemitic acts almost quadrupled. Last year, they made up more than 60% of all acts of hatred based on religion. Not that the rest of Europe has fared much better.
Renewed fighting in Gaza—which Brussels is urging Israel to stop, while the U.S. says that Hamas is “totally responsible”—is sadly likely to result in another spike in antisemitic attacks on the Continent, like this one against the French rabbi.
