Because of attacks by Muslims. “It is intolerable that in our country citizens should feel so upset and under assault because of their religious choice that they would conclude that they have to hide,” said Hollande. Yes, but why do they feel that way, Hollande? Why are they under assault because of their religious choice? Because of the choices you made regarding Muslim immigration, and the harsh reality of Islamic antisemitism that no one wants to face.
“France’s Jews advised to leave skullcaps off, for safety,” by Kim Willsher, Los Angeles Times, January 15, 2016:
The dilemma arose again, this time in Marseille, France, after an attack on a Jewish teacher: Should skullcaps be left at home or worn freely regardless of potential dangers?
The teacher was attacked by a machete-brandishing teenager this week outside the La Source Jewish School in the southern French port of Marseille. The teacher was wearing a skullcap, also known by the Hebrew word kippa and the Yiddish word yarmulke.
French media reported that the 15-year-old attacker told police he regretted not having killed his victim, who was stabbed in the back and hand. The youth, who reportedly cited the Islamic State extremist group while being questioned by police, has been accused of attempted homicide.
After the attack, Zvi Ammar, head of the Israelite Consistory of Marseille, suggested Jews might want to go without the yarmulke “until better days,” while also saying it was the hardest decision he had ever made. The skullcaps are worn in public by Orthodox Jews or during prayer.
But Ammar’s suggestion sparked concern and criticism among Jews and non-Jews.
French President Francois Hollande said he regretted that Jewish people felt they had to conceal or abandon their skullcaps out of fear of attack.
“It is intolerable that in our country citizens should feel so upset and under assault because of their religious choice that they would conclude that they have to hide,” Hollande told the AFP news agency.
Joel Mergui, president of the Central Israelite Consistory of France, rejected the advice to stop wearing yarmulkes.
“If we have to give up wearing all distinctive sign of our identity we have to ask ourselves frankly, what is our future in France?” Mergui told the daily Le Monde newspaper….
Indeed.