Anti-Semitism rises in France  
Boaz Bismuth- Israel Hayom

The reason for the grave encounter between a group of young Muslims and two Jewish brothers donning kippot in Bondy, a suburb of Paris with a large Muslim population, is still unclear. The French police are conducting an investigation, though the brothers' father has no doubt that it was an anti-Semitic attack. The incident in Bondy has raised once again the issue of anti-Semitism in France, a major component of the republic's ills that has risen to the surface ahead of the presidential elections in May.

During an annual meal hosted by CRIF, the umbrella organization representing French Jewry, it was reported that there had been a decrease in anti-Semitic incidents in France in 2016. However, the numerical drop is not reflected in the feelings of French Jews, who sense threats from all possible directions: The extreme Right and National Front activists, who represent the classic anti-Semitism that has always existed in France; the left-wing and Green Party radicals who blindly and unilaterally support the Palestinian narrative; and the Muslim activists in France who take advantage of the conflict in the Middle East to work out their frustrations and to advance themselves and their community.

Bondy Mayor Sylvine Thomassin (of the Socialist Party), who is trying to find her way into the hearts of local Muslim residents, declared in July that she supports labeling Israeli products from the settlements. In doing so, perhaps she managed to please her Muslim constituents, but she also harmed the Jewish residents who still live there. Thomassin's interference only contributed to importing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to her district, despite the fact that this goes against Elysee policy, which seeks stability and calm in the suburbs. This is an issue that France must take seriously: You cannot, on the one hand, carry out pro-Palestinian policy, and on the other hand, be surprised by the polarization between the Muslim and Jewish populations in France.

Another concerning point is the rise in popularity in France of new Muslim cultural heroes, who receive widespread coverage in the media. Online, they allow themselves to lash out -- something that do not do in official media appearances. The problem is that one completes the other: They create an impression of "respectability" via "official" appearances, and then they spit venom online. This was the case with French writer Mehdi Meklat, 24, who was suddenly revealed to be an anti-Semite, a homophobe, a misogynist and a supporter of terrorism.

On Thursday, Meklat was hosted by public television channel France 5 to speak about his new book, "Minute." Viewers traced the Twitter account of this media phenomenon and discovered that he has a parallel account under the name "Marcelin Deschamps." His tweets would have done the Europe of the 1930s and 1940s proud, and they sparked a firestorm. The upside is that he was forced to leave France temporarily until things calm down. But the downside is that he will return, and he represents France's new cultural heroes.