French Jews

Illustrative: Boys study in a Jewish school in Sarcelles, France, on October 03, 2010. (Serge Attal/FLASH90)

June 2, 2018, 12:13 am

French public schools reminded to enforce kippah, headscarf ban

Education ministry circulates handbook encouraging teachers to discipline students violating 2004 law outlawing religious symbols

By JTA

Reporter and activist Sihame Assbague on November 4, 2017. (Screen capture: YouTube)

May 31, 2018, 6:28 pm

French-Muslim activist denies tweet of famous Jews is ‘hit list’

Sihame Assbague posts 8 names along with GIF from 'Game of Thrones' where character lists people she wants to kill; but she claims it was a joking reference to their 'Islamophobia'

By TOI staff and JTA

Painter Chaim Soutine on a park bench. (Courtesy Jewish Museum)

May 21, 2018, 3:19 am

Alienated until the end, master artist Chaim Soutine fled the shtetl for Paris

Running through September, a new exhibit shows off the work of the Jewish Expressionist painter who gave up small-town life in the Pale of Settlement, only to die in Vichy France

By Cathryn J. Prince

Illustrative image of the Daniel Mayer Jewish vocational school in Montreuil, an eastern suburb of Paris (Google Streetview)

May 17, 2018, 3:35 am

Muslim man arrested outside French Jewish school for shouting insults

Suspect placed in psychiatric institution after incident at Bet Hillel in northwestern Paris suburb

By JTA

Chief Rabbi Michel Gugenheim of Paris delivers a speech on June 2, 2013, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, Pool)

May 16, 2018, 6:44 pm

Suburban Paris synagogue nixes chief rabbi event amid fear of violence over Gaza

Yaguel Yaacov synagogue abruptly cancels evening with Rabbi Michel Gugenheim; other communal events to go ahead as planned

By JTA

Firefighters vehicles block Saint Augustin street in Paris centre after two people were killed and several injured in a knife attack in Paris on May 12, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / Thomas SAMSON)

May 13, 2018, 8:44 am

France suffering ‘intifada,’ says Jewish lawmaker after fatal stabbing in Paris

Meyer Habib writes 'it’s time to finish off radical Islam' following attack by man reportedly shouting 'Allahu Akbar'

By JTA

Aviv Zonabend, a Jewish deputy mayor of the French city of Toulouse, on March 26, 2016. (Screen capture: YouTube)

May 5, 2018, 11:42 am

Jewish councilor sorry for saying ‘too many Arabs’ in Toulouse, refuses to quit

French deputy mayor Aviv Zonabend blames bad Hebrew for his comments in Israel interview; the mayor, unable to fire him, relieves him of his council duties

By AFP and TOI staff

April 29, 2018, 4:25 pm

Toulouse mayor threatens to sack Jewish deputy who said ‘too many Arabs’ in city

Aviv Zonabend's comment in Hebrew interview draws condemnation from Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc, who hires a translator to confirm the remark was made

By Michael Bachner

April 25, 2018, 5:18 pm

French deputy mayor says future of Jews in Europe is ‘hopeless’

After call for German Jews to stop wearing kippahs in cities, Aviv Zonabend, Jewish member of Toulouse council, says the advice should be followed throughout Europe

By Michael Bachner

Muslims protest against the closure of a prayer room in the Paris suburb of Clichy la Garenne, November 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

April 24, 2018, 5:30 am

French Muslims blast anti-Semitism letter as attack on Islam

Citing recent violent attacks against Jews, manifesto signed by 300 high-profile figures called for removing 'obsolete' Quran passages detailing punishment for disbelievers

By AFP

Rabbi Michael Azoulay, second from right, reading the Torah with congregants at the synagogue of Neuilly-sur-Seine, December 11, 2017. (Cnaan Liphshiz/JTA)

April 21, 2018, 7:44 am

In Paris, the demise of some Jewish congregations is fueling revival in others

A proliferation of assaults and terrorist attacks is prompting what appears to be an unlikely Jewish renaissance amid one of the community’s worst crises since World War II

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Illustrative: French Gendarmes investigate in the area of defaced tombstones at the Jewish cemetery of Sarre-Union, northeastern France, on February 16, 2015. (AFP/Frederick Florin)

April 18, 2018, 4:11 pm

Jewish cemetery vandalized near Paris

Eight headstones damaged in Seine Saint Denis, north of the French capital, in what Jewish officials say is an anti-Semitic attack

By JTA

April 13, 2018, 7:54 pm

Jewish man found dead, bound in his Paris apartment

Police believe motive for killing was robbery, two Moldovan workers are suspected of the attack

By JTA and Agencies

Gad Elmaleh performing during his new Netflix special, 'American Dream.' (Netflix)

April 8, 2018, 6:29 am

France’s funniest guy is a Moroccan Jew in pursuit of the American laugh

Gad Elmaleh's mom might not think her son is all that funny, but audiences will disagree after watching the French comedian's new Netflix special, 'American Dream'

By Tracy Frydberg

Former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls speaks during the 6th Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism at the Jerusalem Convention Center, March 22, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

March 30, 2018, 10:47 am

France must ‘make an example’ of anti-Semites, former PM urges

Manuel Valls calls for tougher implementation of anti-hate laws, distances himself from last year's Paris peace summit, says Jerusalem is Israel's capital

By Raphael Ahren