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there. The congregation had 50 or so in
attendance, a small yet intimate group.
I found myself repeatedly distracted by
the imposing black marble murals along
the synagogue walls commemorating
Vichy Jews slain during the war.
After the service, I was invited
upstairs for Kiddush and conversa-
tion by the rabbi, a Sephardic Jew
of Moroccan descent named Daniel
El-Haddad. At one point, with the
image of that AF sticker still fresh in my
mind, I asked if he ever feels threatened
to go out dressed very obviously as a
Jew or frightened about any reprisal for
his beliefs.
“I have never had a problem with who
I am,” he said without hesitation. “I have
always kept my kippah on my head since
my childhood. Everyone knows that I
am Jewish, and a lot of people respect
me for that.”
In spite of this, he still warned that we
must all remain vigilant of nationalist
extremism. He is right, which is why I
decided to speak with a member of AF
directly to understand this extremism
more intimately.
Separate The Cultures
Waiting outside a quaint patisserie while
sipping a cappuccino, I was surprised
when a young man approached the
table and asked, “Allo, êtes-vous Ian? Je
m’appelle Amaury.”
We spoke for a little under an hour,
covering everything from him explain-
ing AF’s raison d’etre to the ongoing
refugee crisis, liberalism and French
identity.
During the course of our interview,
I interrupted Amaury to ask him if it
was at all possible for a non-native to
become French.
“C’est impossible.”
When I followed up later by asking
what defines a Frenchman, he gave a coy
response.
“That’s an unpopular question, a
complicated question… It’s not just that
someone is white, is Catholic, but some-
one who believes in French values. But
Republican values, they’re not French
because they’re not good.”
The motto of such Republican val-
ues is and has always been: “Liberty,
Equality, Fraternity.” These were the
same values that granted French
Jews full citizenship under Napoleon
Bonaparte.
To Amaury, this slogan undermines
his belief that it would be best if all
cultures were segregated, believing that
each one has a respective homeland
to go to. I refrained from bringing up
Israel as an example of how difficult this
idea becomes in practice.
Still, if we lend credence to Amaury’s
argument, especially after the recent
assassination of a French priest by
Islamic extremists, would that 3-year-
old mentioned earlier be so wrong to
believe Muslims are incompatible with
French society?
He is only 3; he doesn’t know any
better.
We do.
We know where this route leads when
our base instincts categorize what is
foreign as hostile. We who have lived
through centuries of persecution should
know better than anyone how quickly
such demonization descends into bar-
baric madness.
I am reminded of a passage in
Exodus, a mitzvah, which reads: “And
you shall not oppress a stranger, for you
know the feelings of the stranger, since
you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
It is imperative, now more than ever,
that we take stock of our own his-
tory and heed the lessons therein. If
we refuse to see how the hatred once
spewed at us is now being thrown
against another, we will fail that 3-year-
old.
We will fail him if we ignore our his-
tory in favor of the immediate sense of
safety we feel today. Two paths stand in
front of that child, one of hate and one
of understanding. Which one will we
lead him down? @
Ian Wendrow, 21, is from West Bloomfield. He
is an International Relations graduate from
Michigan State University where he will begin a
master’s in journalism this fall.
Strength.
As a Laker, you’re in with the smallest big university in the country.
We’re large enough to have the impact of a major university, and small
enough to respond nimbly to you. That’s the Laker Effect. And we can’t
wait for you to become part of it.
gvsu.edu
2074380
50 August 25 • 2016
A national military policeman stands guard near a pub-
lic gathering for the Eurocup match between France and
Ireland. Public security was increased significantly in
the wake of recent terror attacks in Paris and elsewhere.