After France attacks, US worried by anti-Semitism in Europe
The White House voiced alarm Tuesday at a surge in anti-Semitism in Europe and in France, after last week’s attack in Paris on a kosher supermarket, which killed four Jewish people.
“The violent assault on the Jewish community in France that took place on Friday afternoon (…) was the latest in a series of very troubling incidents in Europe and around the world that reflect a rising tide of anti-Semitism,” White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said at an American Jewish committee event in a Washington synagogue.
“On behalf of the president (Barack Obama) I am here to affirm our nations’ solidarity to the French people and the Jewish community in France, and around the world, to condemn in the strongest possible terms the violent attacks of last week” on the market, and at satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo where 12 people were killed. Including a policewoman shot dead in a related incident, 17 people lost their lives in the three-day killing spree all told.
“We will not waver in our commitment to combat the scourge of antisemitism,” McDonough stressed, adding that: “from the President on down, you have my commitment that we will wage this fight tirelessly, and together.”
Recalling Obama’s mentioning this week that France is the United States’ oldest ally, McDonough said “we stand in solidarity with the French people and share this steadfast commitment to the values of liberty, free expression, coexistence and religious freedom that were so cruelly and violently assaulted in Paris last week.”
There are between 4.5-5.7 million American Jews, the largest Jewish community outside Israel.
