Jews under protection, French Muslims’ security neglected


After thousands of extra police and soldiers were deployed to provide security across France, French Muslims have been deprived of the same level of security as Jewish synagogues and schools. France's Islamic council has urged the French government to step up their protection of mosques, stating that Muslim's lives have been threatened with increasing acts of vandalism since the Charlie Hebdo massacre. "There are websites out there calling for the murder of Muslim leaders and the torching of Muslim religious sites," Abdallah Zekri, head of the National Observatory against Islamophobia told France Info. "Let's stop the double standards," he added.Nearly half of the 10,000 troops that were drafted have been deployed to guard Jewish schools in order to keep them safe from possible militant attacks. After four French Jews were killed in Paris by a gunman at a kosher supermarket, France has tightened security measures across the country.In the aftermath of a deadly attack on a French satirical magazine which killed 12 people in Paris, Muslims in France have been subject to attacks due to an increase in suspicion and negative feelings toward the French Muslim community. Reports of attacks on mosques and Muslim-run businesses in various places in France have led many French Muslims to fear rising Islamophobia. French media reported revenge attacks on Muslims in the aftermath of the Paris massacre, and many Muslims have become the target of renewed attacks on religious places that belong to the Muslim community. At least 15 attacks were recorded within three days of the Charlie Hebdo massacre on Jan. 7, according to British anti-Islamophobia group, Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks). France is home to the largest Muslim population in Europe with an estimated population of over 8 million.Meanwhile, the Paris attack prompted fear among many French Jews, as more Jews consider fleeing Israel due to security concerns. More than 7,000 Jews in France moved to Israel in 2014, according to reports. "[Jews] have the full right to live in safety and tranquility as citizens with equal rights wherever you wish, including here in France," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the Great Synagogue of Paris late Sunday, as reported by the Associated Press. "But Jews of our time have been blessed with another right, a right that did not exist for previous generations of Jews: the right to join their Jewish brothers and sisters in our historic homeland ... Any Jew who wishes to immigrate to Israel will be welcomed with open arms and warm and accepting hearts."