France: Muslims Incensed After French City Closes Street For Jewish Holidays

Shutting down streets all across France every week during Friday prayers is a-ok for these Muslims, but closing down one street in one city during the Jewish High Holidays is an outrage …

Muslims Shutting Down Street In Defiance Of French Law

The Times of Israel – “The French city of Metz closed a street to vehicular traffic for the High Holidays season, provoking angry reactions from some Muslims.

Rabbin Bloch Street was closed on the afternoon of Sept. 6, the second day of Rosh Hashanah, and will reopen at the close of Yom Kippur, the night of Sept. 14, according to the website of TCRM, the public transport company of the Messine region.

The website cited ‘the Jewish holidays’ for closing the street, which has several Jewish institutions located there.

Metz, which is some 40 miles northwest of Strasbourg in eastern France, had a Jewish population of approximately 4,000 in 1987, according to the Encyclopedia Judaica. The Jewish community established itself in the city in the 16th century.

Some Muslims said the street closure reflected a double standard in the attitude of French authorities to Jewish and Muslim sensibilities in applying separation of church and state.

One of France’s leading Muslim news sites, islametinfo.fr, published an editorial on Friday saying that although ‘it is normal for residents to respect the wishes of others in special moments,’ the closure at Metz ‘begs comparison’ with a ban imposed in 2011 on street prayers by Muslims in Paris.

The street prayers at Barbes were the result of overcrowded conditions at the local mosque.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the ultranationalist Front National, compared the prayers to ‘the occupation’ — a reference to the Nazi occupation of France.” Source – The Times of Israel.

Flashback: France: Hundreds Of Muslims Defy Street Prayer Ban In Paris – “Hundreds of Muslims defied a French ban on outdoor prayer — which came into force Friday –and took to the streets and sidewalks of Paris to pray. The French government announced Thursday it was banning praying outside, with officials pledging to enforce the ban from Friday. But 200 Muslims ignored the ban and prayed on the streets in the neighborhood of La Goutte d’Or, Le Parisien newspaper reported.” Read more.

Flashback: Old Fuhrer, New Furors: Muslim Clerics In France Refer To Jews As ‘Pigs’, ‘Cancer’, ‘Filth’, ‘Microbes’, ‘Vermin’ – “In France almost every week synagogues are firebombed, kosher butchers are attacked, Jewish men are assaulted by youths taunting ‘Palestine kills the Jews’, Jewish schoolgirls are beaten by criminals jeering ‘Jews must die’, Jews are stoned leaving Sabbath worship and Molotov cocktails are hurled at Jewish cultural centers. Sometimes Jews are also gunned down in broad daylight.” Read more.