Nearly 20 per cent of Muslims living in France think there are too many Jews in the country, a survey by the French Judaism Foundation has discovered.
In an 18-month long Ipsos survey on “living together”, published in Le Journal de Dimanche, researchers interviewed French people from a variety of backgrounds on their views on race and religion.
In results that will likely cause further concern to France’s embattled Jewish community, investigators found that nearly one in five Muslims believe there are “too many Jews” living in the country, while the wider population also seems to be suspicious.
The Jewish population of France is around half a million, compared to just under five million Muslims.
Among the wider French population, 91 per cent said Jews were “very insular”, while just over half said they had “a lot of power”. Meanwhile, one in 10 Jewish respondents said they had been the victim of a physical assault due to their religion.
Breitbart London reported last week how Jews are leaving France in record numbers due to fears of Islamist attacks and growing anti-Semitism. The Jewish Agency for Israel said almost 8,000 French Jews emigrated to Israel in 2015, a rate higher figure than any other country in Europe.
According to the latest survey, over a quarter of French Jews have seriously considered leaving the country.
On the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls lamented the growing number Jews making the move, saying “France would not be France” without its Jewish population.
The poll comes as France deals with the aftermath of two major Islamist attacks last year, first on the offices of magazine Charlie Hebdo and then November’s mass shootings in Paris.
If the results are to be believed, those attacks plus the massive migrant influx Europe has witnessed over the past year have hardened attitudes to mass immigration.
Over half of respondents said immigration “is not a source of enrichment”, while 56 per cent of French people said they would react “badly” if their daughter married a Muslim.
The study has generated considerable controversy on social media in France, with some accusing it of asking “inflammatory” questions, while some even question whether it has broken French law which prohibits collecting statistics on ethnic and religious backgrounds.
However, Ariel Goldmann, president of the French Judaism Foundation defended the study, calling it a measure of the ills that plague us as French citizens.”
“It is addressed to all those that want to fight against prejudices,” he added.
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