2012 presidential race - anti-Semitism in France under the spotlight

There is nothing surprising in these latest "developments" in France.  Many Europeans believe that Jews are "immigrants" who on the whole have been successful.  Revealingly, Europeans forget that Jews have lived in Europe for many centuries.  But many Jews also agree and are proud to say that they are "well integrated"... thus accepting that Jews are not quite "native" to Europe.  That's the main difference between US and European Jews lies. French historian André Kaspi reckons that by 2080 there will be 600.000 Jews left in Europe.

Source: France 24 (Anti-Semitism in France under the spotlight, by James Creedon)

FRENCH PAPERS, Tues., 15/2/2011: An old French debate has reared its head: is there still a residue of anti-Semitism in France? Le Monde points out that the most popular Google searches for certain politicians like Dominique Strauss-Kahn and François Hollande is their name followed by the world “Jew”. What does this reveal about France’s subconscious?
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French right politicians savage IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Sarkozy's undeclared rival for 2012 presidential race

PARIS (AFP-EJP)--  French President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing allies have launched a full-frontal assault on his potential -- but undeclared -- rival in next year's presidential election, IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Strauss-Kahn's stint at the helm of the International Monetary Fund in Washington does not officially end until September 2012, several months after the scheduled date of France's vote. But the French political world is buzzing with speculation that the man popularly known here as DSK will bring a premature end to his tenure and throw his hat in the ring. And opinion polls suggested he would win the vote if he runs. [...]

In recent days, its leading lights have launched virulent attacks on Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist former Finance Minister whom, ironically, Sarkozy backed to become IMF chief.

They dismissed the silver-haired IMF boss as a rich "champagne socialist," a man who has been away too long to still be in touch with France, and a cosmopolitan type who is not "the image of... the France we love."

It was that last charge, by the leader of the UMP in parliament Christian Jacob, that most angered Strauss-Kahn's Socialist allies, who saw in it veiled anti-Semitism.

Socialist deputy Pierre Moscovici said it "resembles a little the rhetoric of the extreme-right between the two world wars" who used such terms to attack French Jewish Socialists. [...]