French Jews Vow to Hold Hanukkah Ceremonies Throughout Paris Despite Warnings from Police (France has Europe's Largest Population of Jews and the Largest Population of Muslims in Western Europe); Palestinian Authority Asks West Bank Municipalities to Tone Done Christmas Celebrations Amid Escalating Violence with Israelis (2% of the Population in the West Bank and Israel are Christians)
Contrary to recent reports, Paris menorah lightings including Sunday's lighting at the Eiffel Tower will continue. pic.twitter.com/FgiyJQKNqK
— Chabad.org (@Chabad) December 1, 2015
Jews Shouldn't Light Menorah For Hanukkah Because Of Anti-Semitic Threats, Paris Police Warn
December 2, 2015IBT - Paris police are reportedly discouraging Jews from lighting the menorah to mark Hanukkah this weekend, after a series of terror attacks last month killed and wounded hundreds. The warning comes as some Jewish leaders have expressed concern about anti-Semitic threats, after Islamic State group supporters attacked several locations -- including a theater that held pro-Israel events -- on Nov. 13.
Jewish organizations in Paris had vowed to hold public Hanukkah ceremonies, including a live concert, starting at sundown Sunday to honor the Jewish holiday. The Jewish outreach organization Chabad Lubavitch is sponsoring more than 60 celebrations and nightly public menorah lightings around Paris, including at the Eiffel Tower. American Jewish DJ Nachum Segal had scheduled a concert titled “Let There Be Light: The Concert of Jewish Unity,” at the Synagogue de la Victoire, or Grand Synagogue of Paris, next week. The show was organized “to celebrate the lives of those living in France, and to honor the Jewish communities,” according to a news release.
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France has Europe's largest population of Jews. Last year, more than 6,000 Parisians, dignitaries and visitors participated in The Eiffel Tower menorah lighting. The ceremony has been a tradition for 24 years. [France also has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, with roughly 4.7 million followers of the faith. Amid growing tensions between Muslims and other French residents, France banned the wearing of Islamic veils and other face coverings in 2011.]
After the November terror attacks in France, extra police were sent to guard the historically Jewish Marais neighborhood in Paris, while a teacher at a Jewish school in Marseilles was stabbed by three attackers who appeared to support the Islamic State group.
In January, Jewish communities in Paris were put on alert after Islamic radicals attacked the Charlie Hebdo magazine office [the French satirical magazine had a history of publishing controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad that angered Muslim leaders in France, the Middle East and other parts of the world] and a kosher supermarket. In 2012, Mohamed Merah, 23, opened fire at an orthodox school in Toulouse in southern France, killing the rabbi and three children. Some Jews have reported removing the mezuzah, the box of parchment Hebrew verses affixed to the entrance of Jewish homes, from their front doors to avoid problems after the attacks.
Palestinian Authority limits Christmas celebrations in West Bank
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — The Palestinian Authority has asked municipalities to tone down their public Christmas celebrations this year amid escalating violence between Palestinians and Israelis.
Hana Amireh, who heads a government committee on churches in the West Bank, confirmed the Palestinian Authority is requesting “a certain decrease” in festivities following the deaths of dozens of Palestinians since mid-September. The majority of them were killed during clashes with Israeli forces or carrying out terrorist attacks, according to the Israeli government.
Amireh said the government has asked the municipality of Bethlehem, the town where Jesus was born and where official Palestinian celebrations of Christmas take place, not to set off holiday fireworks this year and to limit the festive lights and decorations that traditionally adorn the town to two main streets.
Although Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah will light the towering Christmas tree in Manger Square he will not participate in a festive post-lighting dinner hosted by the Bethlehem municipality, Amireh said. The colorful annual Christmas procession, which includes the heads of churches and drum-beating Palestinian scouts, will be held as usual.
News of the limitations upset Palestinian Christians, who comprise less than 2 percent of the population in the West Bank and Israel.
“I’m truly disappointed,” Ekram Juha, director of the Bethlehem mayor’s office, said of the Palestinian Authority’s plans.Juha, who described herself as a “Christian and a believer,” said Palestinians “have a difficult situation but we’ve lived with this situation for many years and celebrations have gone on. This is the place where Jesus was born and if you limit Christmas celebrations here you are limiting something spiritual and holy. I can understand limiting celebrations elsewhere, but not here in Bethlehem.”
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