Arutz Sheva was at the funeral on Wednesday of the four victims of the shooting attack at the Otzar Hatorah in Toulouse, France.
Thousands of people crowded along the route to the Har HaMenuchot cemetery in the Givat Shaul neighborhood in Jerusalem, as Rabbi Yonatan Sandler, his two sons Aryeh and Gavriel, and eight-year-old Miriam Monsonego were laid to rest.
Some of the attendees later spoke to Arutz Sheva and said that while they were shocked at the brutal murders, they were not surprised by them.
“I’m not surprised. I’m shocked, horrified, but not surprised,” said Elisha Shapira who made aliyah from France to Israel. “I witnessed the development of anti-Semitism, of Jews being targeted in all kind of violent ways. It’s not a surprise that it came to that.”
Natan Sharansky, the Chairman of the Jewish Agency, admitted that while the tragedy itself is “a big shock”, the fact that it happened “should not be a big surprise.”
Sharansky said that there are possibly thousands of terrorists who now reside in Europe and can act at any moment. He added, “It was easy to let them enter Europe, but it’s more difficult now to destroy this network of terror. That’s a big challenge to European governments but it’s also a challenge for the State of Israel.”
Anne-Marie Revcolevschi, the President of the Aladdin Project which aims to bridge between Jews and Muslims, warned that what really incites murder is anti-Semitic words and statements.
“The words kill. The words get into the minds of people who then start to murder,” she said. “The young people have to stand up and say, ‘We don’t want to hear anymore those words of hate, crime, racism and anti-Semitism.’”
For an overview of French anti-Semitism, click here.