0:00:03 > 0:00:06PRAYING
0:00:06 > 0:00:09The Jewish Passover festival remembers the Israelites
0:00:09 > 0:00:11escaping slavery in ancient Egypt
0:00:11 > 0:00:15and all the times when Jews have faced persecution since.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Most Jewish people do see things
0:00:18 > 0:00:20through a particular historical lens.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23They're aware that there have always been threats
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and that those threats haven't necessarily gone away.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Despite the horrors of history,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32hate against Jews is rising again in Europe.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37In France, many Jews are leaving the country.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39We are afraid.
0:00:39 > 0:00:44I'm afraid of now, more than maybe ten years before.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47I think there's a sense amongst the Jewish community as well
0:00:47 > 0:00:51that this may well be, you know, we may be at the beginning of something much worse.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57Some synagogues in London have been transformed by French arrivals.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00The country where Jews are killed is France.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03It's not the UK. And it's a major difference.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07I think Britain's a really fantastic place to be Jewish
0:01:07 > 0:01:11and, by and large, we feel very comfortable here.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14But it's only ever one attack away from being really quite bad.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18More than 70 years after the Holocaust,
0:01:18 > 0:01:22Jews are asking again whether they can be safe in Europe.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46The other day I was aware and I heard two men, big,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49and saying that they are fed up with Jews
0:01:49 > 0:01:52and because of the Jews, ta ta ta ta, ta ta ta.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55And I wanted to stand up and say "shut up",
0:01:55 > 0:01:58which I would have done ten years ago, that's right.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00And I...didn't do anything.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03I was like that, with my heart beating.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06- Because, you know, no-one... - Yeah, no-one would help me,
0:02:06 > 0:02:10but I felt awful because I didn't stand up.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16Noemie and her mum Rachel have seen how anti-Semitism
0:02:16 > 0:02:19has risen in France in the last decade.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26It's, like, not every day, but, erm...
0:02:26 > 0:02:28the Jew has to be burned
0:02:28 > 0:02:30and, erm, these kind of things.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33- I mean...to spit...- To spit.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37In the past it happened from time to time.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Now it happens all the time.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43- I don't have any...espoir...? - Hope.- ..hope any more.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45Honestly.
0:02:53 > 0:02:59Acts of anti-Semitism in France have grown ten-fold in the past 15 years.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05There's an atmosphere of anti-Semitism,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and this is translated very directly into, erm,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11you know, slogans like Mort aux Juif - death to the Jews,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14which has been appearing on walls and demonstrations and so on.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18But the big thing I would say is that I've been coming to Paris since the 1980s
0:03:18 > 0:03:21and the level of hostility that we have in Paris right now in 2016,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23I've never known it to be so high.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25It's not only about the number,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28it's also about the level of violence, from threat to death,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30because we are speaking now about death.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36The Jewish community has a much longer experience
0:03:36 > 0:03:40of living with hate than most Parisians.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Eight people have been killed across France in terrorist attacks
0:03:43 > 0:03:46since 2012 because they were Jewish.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Two days after the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine
0:03:57 > 0:04:02shocked France in 2015, another terrorist quietly walked into
0:04:02 > 0:04:07a kosher supermarket, where Noemie's mum, Rachel, was known to shop.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12I was at work, and I... I heard that someone...
0:04:12 > 0:04:14something happened.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22And I just opened my computer and I recognised the store.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25I remember it was a Friday,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28- like, end of, erm... - The morning.- ..the morning,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31and I was thinking about my mum
0:04:31 > 0:04:34because she was doing the shopping for Shabbat.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37And I remember the fear.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42I mean it was...I was petrified. Petrified, literally.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45GUNSHOTS
0:04:45 > 0:04:51It was, I think, one of the worst moments in my life.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56By the time armed police ended the siege, four people had been killed.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Noemie's mum hadn't been in the shop on that day,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02yet the fear Noemie felt is still with her.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Since what happened, honestly, something changed.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09I'm always afraid to take the subway,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12I'm always afraid even to walk in the street.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20I'm afraid for my future kids.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23I don't want to... my kids live like this.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Noemie will get married in France this year.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Bonjour.
0:05:29 > 0:05:30Bonjour! Ca va?
0:05:30 > 0:05:33But her future will not be in her home country.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37She will move to Israel with her husband-to-be after their wedding.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42I think I'm quite a... erm, brave person.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Erm...I'm not scared of a lot of things.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50But I don't want to... to live in this country.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58All my father's family was killed because of anti-Semitism
0:05:58 > 0:06:00in the war
0:06:00 > 0:06:05and I'm the child of that generation after
0:06:05 > 0:06:07so my heritage is...
0:06:07 > 0:06:09no hope.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13But I want to have hope in...
0:06:13 > 0:06:15erm, erm...
0:06:15 > 0:06:16humanity
0:06:16 > 0:06:18and the human race
0:06:18 > 0:06:21and in my country.
0:06:21 > 0:06:22I love France,
0:06:22 > 0:06:26but it's getting really difficult
0:06:26 > 0:06:28to keep hope.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38The number of Jews leaving France for Israel
0:06:38 > 0:06:42before anti-Semitism began to rise was 1,000.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45In 2015, following the kosher supermarket attack,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49the number leaving France for Israel was 8,000 -
0:06:49 > 0:06:52the highest annual total on record.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56They're leaving for a lot of reasons
0:06:56 > 0:06:59but a lot of them are to do with anti-Semitism and they're to do
0:06:59 > 0:07:02with real fear of real persecution and real violence.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06I think there's a sense amongst the Jewish community as well
0:07:06 > 0:07:10that this may well be, you know, we may be at the beginning of something much worse.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Jewish people are emigrating for work opportunities too.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23PRAYING
0:07:32 > 0:07:36One synagogue in London has been transformed by French arrivals.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38On a Shabbat morning, on a Saturday morning,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41we will probably see 100 to 120 people, plus, plus, plus.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44And, frankly, if you come late it's standing room only.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51The first language is probably French.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53The second one may be English.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Third may be Hebrew. Fourth would be Arabic.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58And all of those things combine.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03But this has become one of the most dynamic French communities.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15There was only a handful of non-British worshippers here
0:08:15 > 0:08:17a few years ago.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Now it's 90% French.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22I think the English people are more open.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25I feel very comfortable with...
0:08:25 > 0:08:28to practice my Judaism in England.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33It's the only country where the Jews were here
0:08:33 > 0:08:35from 350 years.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37I think, more than that.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40You don't find something like this in the rest of Europe
0:08:40 > 0:08:43because the Jews always need to move from a place to a place.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Most members of the synagogue came with a plan to return home.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Something has changed.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55I'm now hearing my French friends talking
0:08:55 > 0:08:58and that they're not going back to Paris
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and that Paris doesn't look like...
0:09:01 > 0:09:05the optimum place to be a Jew in Europe.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Many French Jews in London are planning to stay for good
0:09:10 > 0:09:13because they know anti-Semitism has risen in France.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15Like Raphael.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17The country where Jews are killed is France.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20It's not the UK. And it's a major difference.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22It's quite troubling, isn't it?
0:09:22 > 0:09:28Most of the French Jews have a mixed feeling of anger and sadness.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31Sadness for what France has become...
0:09:33 > 0:09:35..and anger for...
0:09:36 > 0:09:40..the successive governments who decided to turn a blind eye.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Who didn't really act against these anti-Semitic acts.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46POLICE SIREN
0:09:51 > 0:09:55Anti-Semitism in France has come historically from the Far Right.
0:09:55 > 0:10:00Now, increasingly, victims report it is coming from a different group -
0:10:00 > 0:10:03a small minority of French Muslims.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05It's classical prejudice.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07It's coming mainly from people who are French
0:10:07 > 0:10:09but who are descendant of immigrant.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14Erm, yes, and it's about harassment, it's about bullying.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16It's about your own environment.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20It's the people you see in your daily life,
0:10:20 > 0:10:22and you have conflict with them.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25At an individual level, it's very difficult to bear.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33The suburbs in Paris, also known as the banlieues,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35are large estates beyond the ring road,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38notorious for high crime and social problems.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49It is religiously mixed with a substantial Muslim population.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52If you look at, you know, the banlieues,
0:10:52 > 0:10:56you've got a Muslim community that is separate from Paris
0:10:56 > 0:10:59in terms of public transport, in terms of unemployment.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Actually, this is a very physical thing.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04- TRANSLATION:- When we talk about suburbs in France,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08it means the people on the borders of society - that's what it means.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11It's a population who is frail, precarious.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14GUNSHOTS
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Riots broke out in Clichy-Sous-Bois in 2005.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24A confrontation with police igniting frustrations.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Investment has come to Clichy since,
0:11:33 > 0:11:37yet the economic and social problems persist.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43- TRANSLATION:- Many apartments are dilapidated, unsanitary.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45All these people, all these households,
0:11:45 > 0:11:47don't have a stable situation.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50It's the same thing with jobs.
0:11:54 > 0:11:5840% unemployment for people under 25.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01It's in these neighbourhoods where we find these very high
0:12:01 > 0:12:04unemployment rates, not anywhere else on the French territory.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08And it's a vicious cycle. No job means no cultural development,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11no independence, no mobility.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14The isolation also affects you mentally.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Because of these lack of opportunities,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22religious identity takes on extra importance for some young Muslims.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27Radical Islam offers you a way out.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30And a lot of it is what I would call street Islam.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34They don't really speak Arabic but they'll pick up bits of Arabic slang.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37They don't really understand Islamic theology.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41If you feel that you've got no identity, if you feel excluded
0:12:41 > 0:12:44from society, and you're pushed out and you've got nowhere to go,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47the only part of your identity that you might be able to hold on
0:12:47 > 0:12:49is your religious identity.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53Yet this religious identity is being threatened too
0:12:53 > 0:12:57because in France, being a citizen must always trump faith
0:12:57 > 0:12:59in the public sphere.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02You've got to remember that one of the founding principles of
0:13:02 > 0:13:06the French Republic as it stands right now is laicite, or secularism.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09It's...it's not just a belief, it's also a law.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14And the way it plays out is that it's one size fits all -
0:13:14 > 0:13:17liberte, egalite, fraternite, or else!
0:13:18 > 0:13:22If you're somebody who's clutching to a fragmented identity
0:13:22 > 0:13:26which has been channelled into this, kind of, Islamist persona,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29that feels like it's a very deep attack on who you are.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35Muslim extremists recruiting in the suburbs in Paris and elsewhere,
0:13:35 > 0:13:39often use derogatory passages about Jews from the Koran,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42out of context most Muslims would say,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45to further their own anti-Semitic ideology.
0:13:46 > 0:13:51The way some interpret passages from the Koran, erm...
0:13:51 > 0:13:55and where they say that the Jews are the enemy, the Jews are pigs.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59It's a conflation of various things.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03It's a conflation of the Israel Palestine conflict,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06but it's also a perception of that old historical shibboleth,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08that old historical conspiracy theory,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11that the Jews are the controlling elite of France.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Obviously they're not, but they need someone to blame.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18It's easier to blame the other. It's easier to blame the Jew.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24- TRANSLATION:- At some point in your life, when the only thing you've
0:14:24 > 0:14:27heard is, "You suck, you suck", and somebody you meet,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30someone important - a guru that tells you "No, you're beautiful.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33"You're not stupid. You're able."
0:14:33 > 0:14:36And so he makes you feel like you have value, he's the only one
0:14:36 > 0:14:39that believes in you, of course it's easier to fall down.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43The UK is not immune to these trends.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46We warn those governments who've entered this evil alliance
0:14:46 > 0:14:49with America against the Islamic State to back off.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52British Muslim extremists have travelled to Syria
0:14:52 > 0:14:55to fight for so-called Islamic state.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Many more, including the British Far Right,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00hold anti-Semitic beliefs.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08Hate against Jews has tripled in the UK since 2000.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16A schoolteacher in south London posted an image of Hitler online
0:15:16 > 0:15:19that said that he understood why Hitler had killed Jews
0:15:19 > 0:15:21but left some so he could see how bad they were.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25A Metrolink tram in January in Manchester had to be taken out
0:15:25 > 0:15:28of circulation after a swastika was daubed on its seat.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31A woman on the 102 bus in Golders Green in London
0:15:31 > 0:15:33reported anti-Semitic abuse
0:15:33 > 0:15:38with one passenger calling others f'ing Jews and disgusting Jews.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42And a 14-year-old boy, also in February, was arrested in Hackney
0:15:42 > 0:15:45after a group of youths attempted to place lit fireworks
0:15:45 > 0:15:47in the pockets of Jewish pedestrians.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Yet most Jews in this country believe it is safer here
0:15:54 > 0:15:56than in France.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01The situation in the UK isn't as bad as it is in France
0:16:01 > 0:16:04or in much of mainland Europe, but it's still quite serious.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08A zero tolerance attitude needs to be taken towards anti-Semitism
0:16:08 > 0:16:12because that will send a clear signal to those who are potentially
0:16:12 > 0:16:16on the path towards becoming extremists, to those people
0:16:16 > 0:16:20who might one day try to carry out attacks on Jewish people.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27Work has long been done in the UK to tackle the conditions
0:16:27 > 0:16:29that can breed anti-Semitism.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32For nearly 30 years, education about different religions
0:16:32 > 0:16:35has been offered to all school children.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38The aim is to give an unbiased picture of other faiths
0:16:38 > 0:16:40to improve understanding.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44- What is she holding in her hand? - A bangle.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47This could not happen in France
0:16:47 > 0:16:49because of the country's secular culture.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53One of the difficulties of secularism, or laicite,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56is that interfaith work can't take place in schools, for example,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59which is where a lot of the work should take place
0:16:59 > 0:17:02in terms of dialogue, conversations and understanding the other.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06But people do know they come from different religious backgrounds,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09so, in a sense, you can see that how not having that space
0:17:09 > 0:17:12in which to communicate with other people from other faiths,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16it creates the kind of tensions and the kind of negative space
0:17:16 > 0:17:18in which radicalism takes place.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25One city in the UK that has suffered from feelings
0:17:25 > 0:17:28of community isolation is Bradford.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33The city has seen rioting in its recent history,
0:17:33 > 0:17:34in 2001.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46We had our resilience as a community tested on that day
0:17:46 > 0:17:49and the aftermath of what happened
0:17:49 > 0:17:52I think shocked Bradford and the community to its core.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Nobody realised that something could trigger...
0:17:56 > 0:17:59something so small could trigger actually something quite huge.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04The riots were sparked by a Far Right demonstration,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07before battles broke out between the police and young men,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09who identified as Muslim.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12The Asian community and the Muslim community
0:18:12 > 0:18:15felt that they were treated differently in any case
0:18:15 > 0:18:18and felt that there was a level of discrimination.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21But what it did do was light a spark, really,
0:18:21 > 0:18:25and create almost...or increase that sense of isolation
0:18:25 > 0:18:28that was felt by the Muslim community.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Since then, Bradford has worked hard to tackle feelings of isolation
0:18:39 > 0:18:42and to promote understanding.
0:18:42 > 0:18:43Its inter-faith programme
0:18:43 > 0:18:46is one of the most comprehensive in the country.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58When we are talking about those images,
0:18:58 > 0:19:00we would say the word deity,
0:19:00 > 0:19:05because that's what a Hindu person would call those images.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08This is the first visit to a Hindu temple for most of this class,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11which is majority Muslim.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15How many times do Hindus pray each time, a day?
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Were you thinking of your own religion here?
0:19:18 > 0:19:21How many times do you have to pray?
0:19:21 > 0:19:23- Five.- Five times.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Now, Hindu people don't have a set times
0:19:26 > 0:19:29to how many times they should pray in a day.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33They are learning, actually, about diversity.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36If we weren't able to do our job,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39I think that will narrow people's understanding a lot more.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43They will be more in isolation, having no understanding
0:19:43 > 0:19:48of each other's faiths, which are very important for us today.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53And if we weren't doing this job, I don't know where Bradford would be.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56Having grown up in Britain,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59I've always been proud of the idea of multi-culturalism,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02but I'm not sure that it's been entirely successful.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05I still think it's not a bad model and I do tend to think
0:20:05 > 0:20:09the Muslim community in Britain is a lot more...key word - British.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13I think they're more comfortable with this very fluid notion
0:20:13 > 0:20:16of being British, whereas, in France,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19it's a very fixed and constrained version of being French.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26A foiled terrorist plot to attack Jews in 2012
0:20:26 > 0:20:29is a reminder that Britain has a long way to go
0:20:29 > 0:20:31to tackle hate and radicalisation.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Yet there are many examples of people
0:20:36 > 0:20:39determined to embrace other faiths.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Rudi Leavor is 89
0:20:45 > 0:20:48and has known the horrors of anti-Semitism for most of his life.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Erm, several of my relatives were killed in Auschwitz
0:20:53 > 0:20:55and other concentration camps.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58This is one of them, called Evie,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00of whom I was very fond.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06And this is her son...
0:21:06 > 0:21:07Dan,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11who was murdered in Auschwitz aged four.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Rudi came to Bradford
0:21:13 > 0:21:16with his family from Nazi Germany when he was 11.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19I think my earliest memories would be SA men
0:21:19 > 0:21:23marching along the main road near our flat.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Erm, all marching along and singing.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30I don't know what they were singing but they were pretty intimidating.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35The Jewish community in Bradford was more than a thousand
0:21:35 > 0:21:37when Rudi arrived.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42One by one, the mills that had been working flat out for many decades
0:21:42 > 0:21:43had to close down.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48Quite a number of Jewish people emigrated from Bradford to London.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52Jewish numbers in Bradford are now fewer than 300.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Two years ago, the city's last remaining synagogue
0:21:55 > 0:21:59was threatened with closure because of lack of funds.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04The roof was leaking and other repairs had to be done.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08And we seriously thought of having to sell the building,
0:22:08 > 0:22:10which I didn't want to do.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Then, by coincidence, I was approached by the owner
0:22:13 > 0:22:17of a curry restaurant around the corner from the synagogue.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22He knew various people in Bradford, one of whom, he said,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26would donate a sizeable sum of money for repairing the roof.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30After receiving the gift from a Muslim donor,
0:22:30 > 0:22:34the synagogue asked Jani Rashid, a prominent Bradford Muslim,
0:22:34 > 0:22:36to be co-opted onto its council
0:22:36 > 0:22:39to increase links between their two faiths.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43It's believed to be the only example of this in Europe.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46It took me aback, but, erm,
0:22:46 > 0:22:52I have to say that it's very much an honour and a privilege, erm...
0:22:52 > 0:22:56you know, to be asked to join this, you know, the Jewish Council,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59because something like that is unheard of, isn't it,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03in terms of having a non-Jew on the Jewish Council.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06I don't know of any synagogue that has a Muslim on the council.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14There are many examples in France too
0:23:14 > 0:23:17of people determined to embrace other faiths.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Lassana came to Paris from Mali when he was 15
0:23:32 > 0:23:37to live at first in this hostel for immigrants near the ring road.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42- TRANSLATION:- When I was a kid, I went to the Koranic school.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45They would talk to us about Christians.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47They would even talk to us about the Jewish religion.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51What we were taught is to read the Koran,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55to pray and respect other people. For me, that's the best thing.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01Lassana found it tough to find work.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04- TRANSLATION:- I thought everything was easy.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07When you come here you could easily find accommodation and work.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Two days after arriving, I regretted it.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Eventually Lassana got a break at a Jewish store.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22- TRANSLATION:- The first Jew I met, I think, was in the shop.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26I saw the way they pray, the food they have to eat.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31What they had to do and what they couldn't do.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Even the language, I started to speak it.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Quite a lot of people were surprised.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40I stayed with them for four years. I know a lot about their religion.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47The shop Lassana worked at was the kosher supermarket attacked in 2015,
0:24:47 > 0:24:51when four people were killed by a terrorist because they were Jewish.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58- TRANSLATION:- The day of the attack at Hyper Cacher was a Friday,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Shabbat.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07I was supposed to finish at 1pm in the shop to go to the mosque.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11At 12.45pm, the terrorist arrived.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15When he came, he couldn't tell who was who and he shot everybody.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18I was still downstairs. I heard some gunshots.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23I could see customers coming down the stairs
0:25:23 > 0:25:26and they were saying the terrorist had come into the shop.
0:25:27 > 0:25:28Yes, it was fear.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Absolute fear.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33In my head, I knew I was going to die.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Lassana hid with Jewish shoppers in a fridge,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40before getting out of the building through a goods exit.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44What he told police about where the gunman and hostages were
0:25:44 > 0:25:47allowed them to send in armed officers to end the siege,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49which saved Jewish lives.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51GUNSHOTS
0:25:52 > 0:25:54SIRENS
0:25:58 > 0:26:00- TRANSLATION:- For me, the terrorists who killed for Islam
0:26:00 > 0:26:02got it completely wrong.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05People who kill for Islam hurt all of us
0:26:05 > 0:26:09because right now all they're doing is dishonouring all Muslims.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20The Jews have had a very difficult history in Europe
0:26:20 > 0:26:23and many of their festivals, like Passover, remember the times
0:26:23 > 0:26:27when Jewish people have been persecuted over the centuries.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Anti-Semitism is one of the world's oldest hatreds,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33dating back, unfortunately, thousands of years
0:26:33 > 0:26:37and, whatever the context, people have found ways to blame the Jews.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44The hope is, despite the worsening climate,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47that Jews will have a long future in Europe
0:26:47 > 0:26:50and that terrible acts aimed at the Jewish people
0:26:50 > 0:26:52can never happen again.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56I think Britain's a really fantastic place to be Jewish.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58The British Jewish community's been established here
0:26:58 > 0:27:00for hundreds of years now
0:27:00 > 0:27:03and, by and large, we feel very comfortable here.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06We are both proud British citizens and also proud Jews.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09But that's not to say that there aren't concerns
0:27:09 > 0:27:12and in the back of our minds we are wondering,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14will there be an attack on one of our schools,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17on one of our synagogues, on one of our community centres?
0:27:17 > 0:27:18And that's disconcerting.
0:27:21 > 0:27:26Can France actually throw off the shackles of its historical identity
0:27:26 > 0:27:29and re-invent itself as a 21st century country?
0:27:29 > 0:27:34And that means people of different faiths meeting together, different races mixing together.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37It means investment. It means engagement with realities.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39And this is the really big thing,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41it means re-thinking the French Constitution.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48There are a lot of people my age who leave if their kids leave.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52And a lot of young people leave too.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54But not all of them.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58There are a lot of people want to stay in France and fight this
0:27:58 > 0:28:00because they love their country.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Who knows, maybe it's not too late.
0:28:05 > 0:28:11I'm trying to fight my little fight to...
0:28:11 > 0:28:14erm, bring more tolerance around me.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Other people do it.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18Many teachers do it.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21The government is trying to do something also.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24But who knows if it's too late or not?