French Jews Hiding Their Identities

In France, more and more male Jews are taking off their kippahs when they leave the house, while females are removing their chains with Stars of David. Men have been beaten for wearing a kippah; Jewish women have had their Star of David chains ripped from their necks. When asked by others “are you Jewish?,” some are now afraid to answer truthfully; those who do find their interlocutors denouncing them for the “crime of genocide.” It’s a terrible dilemma: with such an epidemic of antisemitism, they now find themselves asking: do I stay or do I go? Making aliyah is not easy: mastering a new language, becoming integrated into an unfamiliar society, fulfilling the military service that is required of the young, and the reservist service that is required of all Israelis until their forties, the sky-high cost of housing in Israel, and the constant threat of terrorism, are all a burden, and not every Jew in France — there are 600,000 of them, the third largest Jewish population in the world, exceeded only by those in Israel and the U.S. — is prepared for such a life, and many are naturally reluctant to leave the country their families have lived in for centuries.

More on what has been happening to Jews in France can be found here: “Ostracization and the ‘need to hide’ felt by the French Jewish community – Le Parisien,” Jerusalem Post, October 25, 2025:

Young members of the French Jewish community have been removing their kippahs and hiding their identities just to feel safe as antisemitic and anti-Israel continue to permeate European society, according to testimonies shared with the French magazine Le Parisien.

Days before the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 massacre, an anonymous Jewish woman dubbed Deborah said she woke up to the words “dirty Jew!” spray-painted on the exterior of her home.

Deborah told Le Parisien that she no longer tells people she is Jewish when she meets them. “It’s terrible, but it’s almost considered normal now,” she said, “People have cut ties with me since October 7, 2023, just because I’m Jewish.”

The 25-year-old recounted an incident that occurred in a university communications class where a classmate, after asking Deborah’s opinion on Israel, told her, “​​You support them, so you’re a genocidal person,” which caused Deborah to burst into tears….

Antisemitic rhetoric has insidiously crept into all levels of education in France. Raphael’s mother, a teacher, overheard students warning each other to “watch out, she’s Jewish, she’s a dirty Zionist.” Raphael’s younger sister witnessed classmates tearing down posters meant to spread awareness about antisemitism.

The Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF) told Le Parisien that they receive daily calls from students reporting antisemitic incidents or ostracization, leading to many opting to leave their original academic institutions of choice….

Some of those Jewish students transfer from the most prestigious universities, such as Sciences-Polytechnique and the University of Paris, where the anti-Israel animus and antisemitism have been most in evidence, and settle on universities in the provinces, where the antisemitism has been less severe. Other Jewish students transfer to schools elsewhere in Europe, or in North America, especially to francophone universities in Quebec.

The French government needs to put in place the policy of the Trump administration, that has cut funding for universities that fail to put in place a program to monitor and punish — by expulsion — antisemitic activity on campus. This could work as well in France, where much of the antisemitic trouble in the universities as elsewhere comes from Muslim migrants, who might curb their enthusiasm if they know they can not only be expelled from their schools, but also deported for “hate crimes.”