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The Kosher Cop - A Policeman Fights Anti-Semitism

August 24, 2019

Anti-Semitism is on the rise in France and the country's Jews feel increasingly threatened. After attacks on Jewish institutions and Jewish life, many feel abandoned by the state. A retired Jewish policeman wants to change that.

https://p.dw.com/p/3OPfy

Anti-Semitic crimes in France are on the rise. The French government says the number of anti-Semitic attacks rose by almost 70 percent in the first nine months of 2018. But Samy Ghozlan, known in France as the Kosher Cop, is no longer prepared to stand idly by and watch. The former policeman is himself Jewish and has been attacked several times. A few years ago, he emigrated to Israel out of fear for his family. But the fight against anti-Semitism in his homeland constantly draws him back to Paris, where he has set up an organization to identify and counter anti-Semitism as well as help the victims when no one else will. Like Stella, for example: after being attacked in her apartment and having her car smeared with Stars of David, she fled her home on the outskirts of Paris and moved to another part of the city. Ghozlan, who knows many Jews who are leaving the suburbs because they no longer feel safe there, talks about a "new anti-Semitism.” In the past, the perpetrators were mainly right-wing extremists, but today many attacks are carried out by Muslims. But Ghozlan also has the support of his friend Hassen Chalghoumi, a Paris Imam who speaks openly about anti-Semitism among French Muslims. Together, the two are confronting anti-Semitic prejudice and fighting for peaceful coexistence.