c. 2006 Religion News Service

RIS-ORANGIS, France _ Michel Serfaty crossed France last year with a busload of French Jews and Muslims and a seemingly unattainable goal: To promote friendship between the two communities at a time of growing religious intolerance.

“There wasn’t a single day that I didn’t hear an anti-Semitic remark,” Serfaty, a Jewish rabbi, recalled of conversations with tough, mostly Muslim youngsters during his month-long tour across the country. Still, he said, “when Jews and Muslims have met, cultural barriers have fallen. We have seen fewer sentiments of scorn and rejection.”

But since the horrific death Feb. 13 of a young Jewish telephone salesman, the barriers loom larger than ever between France’s estimated 60,000 Jews and 5 million Muslims _ Europe’s largest communities for both faiths.

The kidnapping and torture of 23-year-old Ilan Halimi, who was found naked and dying near railway tracks outside Paris, has unleashed nationwide demonstrations against racism and sparked soul-searching on the part of politicians and religious leaders. It is reinforcing fears among some that anti-Semitism is not only resurging here after a brief lull, but is taking on chilling new dimensions.

“The extreme violence of these youths indicates things aren’t well in French society as a whole, that it’s a society in crisis,” said Emmanuel Brenner, who co-authored “The Lost Territories of the Republic,” a 2003 book about anti-Semitism in French schools. “The second aspect is that the anti-Semitism _ which is very present in the killing of Ilan Halimi _ is the result of an indoctrination in the housing projects that is making these acts banal.”

Anti-Jewish incidents grew steadily between 2000 and 2004, keeping rough pace with Israeli-Palestinian clashes. This past weekend (March 3-5) alone, three young Jews were attacked in Sarcelles, outside Paris, which has a large Jewish community. Many such incidents are blamed on ethnic Arab Muslim youths, playing out a slice of the Middle East violence on French territory.

But Halimi’s alleged assailants _ members of a suburban gang known as “the barbarians” _ do not easily fit such stereotypes. The 18 people detained to date in connection with his death hail from a mix of ethnic and religious backgrounds. The presumed gang leader, Youssouf Fofana _ who was extradited to France from Ivory Coast _ is of African descent.

Police seized papers attesting to the gang’s support of fundamentalist Islam and Palestinian causes. After initially remaining silent about Halimi’s religion, government officials are saying more.

“They believed, and I quote, `that Jews have money,”’ said Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, explaining the thinking of Halimi’s kidnappers, who tried to extort money from his family. “That’s called anti-Semitism.”

In the Paris suburb of Ris-Orangis, Rabbi Serfaty is quick to acknowledge Halimi’s killing is likely to reinforce misgivings among French Jews.

Today, many men are wary of venturing outside wearing skull caps or prayer shawls. Children are forbidden from taking public transportation in rough areas with high concentrations of ethnic Arabs and Africans.

“I have no doubt that the Jewish community today is experiencing a time of fear,” Serfaty said, as he showed a visitor around his conservative synagogue wrapped by a high, green metal fence _ a recently installed government safety measure. “Without doubt, this assassination will make some Jews conclude they have no reason to stay in France _ that they must leave because France is Islamicizing.”

But, he added, “we cannot accept this discourse.”

A tall, thin orthodox rabbi, Serfaty has spent years trying to break down religious prejudices. His synagogue abuts an evangelical church. A Muslim prayer center sits next door. Leaders of all three centers attend the religious festivals of the others.

A decade ago, Serfaty began organizing youth bus trips to Poland to visit concentration camps and other Holocaust memorials. Many of the youngsters on his tours are ethnic Arab Muslims. “I no longer work with Jews,” he said. “The teaching of the Holocaust should be in my eyes among non-Jews especially. To reduce the numbers of naysayers among them.”

Serfaty’s fledgling Jewish-Muslim friendship association is presided over by a handful of leaders of both faiths. “It’s never too late to bring people together who don’t understand each other,” said the association’s co-president, Djelloul Seddiki, head of an Islamic studies center at the main Paris mosque. “There’s nothing worse than indifference. As a practicing Muslim, I wouldn’t be able to sleep well at night if I didn’t think I’d done my duty.”

In some ways, French Muslims and Jews have much in common. Many, like Serfaty and Seddiki _ from Morocco and Algeria, respectively _ have North African origins. But recognition of this shared heritage is fading rapidly.

“On both sides, Jews and Muslims, the tendency is to fold into themselves,” said Serfaty, who was attacked by two Muslim youths in 2003. “The only difference is the Jews aren’t the aggressors.”

Today, a number of Muslim youths reject lessons on the Holocaust in French public schools. Some observers see a new breed of anti-Semitism growing, free of ideological underpinnings. A recent poll found the majority of French agree both racism and anti-Semitism are rising.

“Today, one finds all kinds of spontaneous expressions of hatred against Jews, especially in the Arab-Muslim world and those of sub-Saharan Africans, but also among those from the (French) Antilles,” sociologist Michel Wieviorka, who authored a recent book on the subject, told Le Monde newspaper in an interview.

Jews are hated in part because they have succeeded in France where many other ethnic immigrants have not, Wieviorka said. “The biggest danger,” he said, “is radicalism … on all sides.”

There are signs intolerance is growing among some Jews as well _ and Halimi’s death has only fueled such sentiments. “Ilan, I don’t know you but I’ll get revenge for you,” wrote a commentator to one radical French Jewish blog site, Midgal.com.

Along with the wave of anti-Jewish attacks in France, the aliya, or emigration to Israel, has been growing steadily in recent years. Enrollment in Jewish schools has also soared.

Even those promoting dialogue are wondering just how much they can achieve.

“There are fantastic people in the Muslim population,” said 35-year-old Elia Ktourza, a member of Serfaty’s Jewish-Muslim association. She counts two Muslim women among her closest friends. “But there are others,” she added, “these young kids from the suburbs _ who are profoundly rooted in hatred and violence.”

Ktourza paused. “I still hope for change,” she said. “But I remain profoundly realistic about things.”

MO/RB END RNS

Editors: To obtain a photo of Rabbi Michel Serfaty go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.