“Fears of identifying as Jewish in many European cities predate the October 7 attacks, though the outbreak of war has made the situation even more fraught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn France, in Belgium and in many other places it\u2019s not safe to wear a kippah. Not before the Hamas attack and not now,\u201d said Raya Kalenova, the executive vice president and CEO of the European Jewish Congress.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The hostility is forcing changes in the lives of European Jews who do not regularly wear a kippah, as well. \u201cThe mezuzah had to be moved, and I need to be more alert,\u201d said Chaim Benistant, a 36-year-old Dutch Jew from the Amsterdam area who is an entrepreneur and Dutch Air Force reservist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drawing on his experience in business, he tries to envisage Europe\u2019s antisemitism problem as a chart. \u201cIt\u2019s a series of peaks, followed by dips,\u201d he said. The dips may lull many into a feeling of safety, but \u201ceach peak exceeds the previous one.\u201d It\u2019s causing Benistant to \u201cseriously question whether there\u2019s a future for people of Jewish descent in present-day Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the continent\u2019s antisemitism problem is itself a symptom of an even bigger problem, Benistant added, which is causing him to \u201cworry about my society itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThose who are currently comfortable or na\u00efve enough to subscribe to Hamas propaganda will become victims of Islamist globalism unless we change course,\u201d he predicted.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cIn France, in Belgium and in many other places it\u2019s not safe to wear a kippah. Not before the Hamas attack and not now,\u201d said Raya Kalenova, the executive vice president and CEO of the European Jewish Congress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":30814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n