The canary in the mine: the antisemitic wave coincides in France with an antichristian wave

It is now common for certain news stories to fail to generate interest in many media outlets when it comes to so-called "hate speech".

This infamous wave of anti-Semitism is just the beginning: Jews are the canary in the mine
The words of Pope Saint John Paul II to the Jews, our 'older brothers'

In recent days, several Israeli media outlets and Jewish media from other countries have reported on a story that many other media outlets have chosen to ignore. On February 12, the French Ministry of the Interior released its 2025 statistics on anti-religious acts, data that has brought to light a terrible reality that many insist on ignoring. According to the Ministry, last year in France there were "just under 2,500" anti-religious acts across the country.

The most significant finding is that more than half of these acts, a total of 1,320, were antisemitic in nature. On Tuesday, February 17, World Israel News noted a curious contrast between this statistic and the proportion of Jews in the local population: in France there are between 435,000 and 500,000 Jews, between 0.6% and 0.7% of the total population, but they suffer 53% of antireligious acts. It is a scandalous disproportion that highlights something many of us have been denouncing: a wave of anti-Semitism especially promoted by Islamism and the extreme left (fortunately, the antisemitic extreme right is something marginal), who have used Hamas's attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, the largest anti-Semitic massacre since the Holocaust, as an excuse to promote hatred of Jews throughout the West.

In May 2024, I warned here that Jews are like the canary in the coal mine. I said that the infamous persecution Jews were suffering at the hands of Islamists and far-leftists would not stop with them, and I issued the following warning: "Then they will come for the Christians and for all those who resist the Islamization of Europe."

I wish I were wrong, but data from the French government confirms that prediction: the second religious community that suffered the most attacks in France in 2023 was the Christian community, with a total of 843. These attacks represent 34% of all anti-religious acts. The French Ministry of the Interior notes that these anti-Christian acts increased by 9% compared to 2024.

Regarding the types of attacks, physical assaults, verbal attacks, and online hate speech account for 67% of antisemitic acts. Unfortunately, the published data does not provide further details on these attacks. In the second most targeted religious community, property crimes represent 87% of anti-Christian acts in France. Thus, as has happened at other times in history, Jews and Christians are once again being subjected to a wave of hatred and violence because of their beliefs.

Let us remember that Pope Saint John Paul II defined Jews as our "older brothers". For many years now, I have been saying on this blog that, as a Christian, when I see someone attacking Jews, I also feel attacked. That is why it is especially repugnant to me to see that some Christians still dedicate themselves to promoting such a radically anti-Christian scourge as antisemitism. Antisemitism is clearly condemned by the Catholic Church, so by promoting it, some are engaging in an openly anti-Christian attitude.

Furthermore, Christians who contribute to encouraging antisemitism are also helping to target other Christians, since those who promote hatred against our "older brothers" often turn on us afterward. Rejecting antisemitism is no longer just a matter of ethics and morality, but also a matter of simple common sense. It takes both evil and utter stupidity to encourage hatred that will ultimately turn against you. Let us also remember that the State of Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Christians enjoy genuine religious freedom. You can see here the situation that Christians face in Islamic countries.

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Photo: Cottonbro Studio.