French Jews flock to area (South Florida)

Please sign the petition referred to in this article: www.petitiononline.com/ID22206/petition.html

http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/37995.html

Sun, Mar. 11, 2007

IMMIGRATION
French Jews flock to area
South Florida is experiencing an influx of Jews who fear persecution in France.

BY ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@MiamiHerald.com

Rod Kukurudz decided to uproot his family from a comfortable life in France to Surfside when his then 16-year-old daughter, Audrey, came home one night in 2005 -- upset and fearful.

''Dad,'' she told him, ''now even if it's hot I have to wear a scarf to hide my Star of David,'' while riding the Paris Metro.

French Jews living in South Florida told The Miami Herald that hostility from Islamic militants in France after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States spurred them to leave. Departures surged after last year's abduction and death of Ilan Halimi in France.

The 23-year-old Halimi, a French Jew of Moroccan parents, was kidnapped Jan. 21, 2006, by a gang of youths calling themselves the ``Barbarians.''

''The atmosphere created by that episode, plus other incidents and the general hostility of Muslims in France toward Jews, is what's behind my decision to leave,'' said Kukurudz, who now lives with his wife and their three daughters, including Audrey, in Surfside.

Vanessa Elmaleh is among a growing number of South Florida immigration attorneys helping French Jews secure U.S. visas -- but not necessarily asylum.

''Asking for asylum can be risky,'' said Elmaleh, a French Jew herself. ``If they deny your petition, they can deport you.''

Immigration court figures show a slight uptick in the number of asylum applications from French nationals starting in 2003 -- but those figures do not specify whether applicants were French Jews. South Florida immigration attorneys say the majority of French Jews are arriving on immigrant, investor and business visas.

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There are no official U.S. government figures on the number of French Jews here, but officials in U.S. Jewish organizations said it could be anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 in South Florida -- mostly Miami-Dade.

''I would say they're in the thousands now,'' said Mendy Levy, a rabbi at The Shul synagogue in Surfside.

''There is no question of an increase in the number of French Jews in South Florida, and there's an expectation that that rate of increase will accelerate,'' said Jacob Solomon, executive vice president of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. 'French Jews see the handwriting on the wall and say, `We're not going to wait until it's too late.' ''

None of the French Jews interviewed was attacked in France, but all expressed fears the Halimi incident was a preview of more militant violence to come.

The latest State Department human rights report, issued last week, cited more anti-Semitic incidents in France during the first nine months of 2006 than during the same period in 2005 -- but fewer than in the first nine months of 2004.

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In their hearts, many of the French Jews arriving in South Florida feel they are refugees, and there's a movement to press the U.S. government for such status. A group has posted a petition on the Internet -- www.petitiononline.com/ID22206/petition.html -- urging the U.S. Congress to approve a refugee program for French Jews.

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:sarcasm:

We need to remember that regardless of the overall attitude of society, a 10% figure of nutballs and haters can make it very uncomfortable for us anywhere. France is talking about tolerence more and more these days, but that doesn't stop things like the Halimi case. He probably thought it could never happen to him, but it did. All I'm saying is that next time someone says anti-Semitism isn't a problem "anymore", just remember that it's not a problem now, but it could be tomorrow. Hell, the Klan was dead for 50 years at one point...