Jewish citizens were advised not to wear religious skull caps in public after an Islamic State-inspired attack on a Jewish teacher.
A fifteen-year-old Turkish teenager attacked the teacher Monday with a machete in the streets of Marseilles, injuring his shoulder. The teen was arrested by French police shortly after.
In response, Zvi Ammar, head of the Israelite Consistory in Marseilles, recommended Tuesday that Jews in France no longer wear their kippahs, or Jewish skull caps, in public.
“As soon as we are identified as Jewish we can be assaulted and even risk death,”said Ammar to Agence France-Presse. “[Therefore] we have to hide ourselves a little bit.”
During his detention, the Turkish perpetrator told French officials that he committed the attack “in the name of ISIS.” (RELATED: 15-Year-Old Boy Attacks Jewish Teacher In Name Of ISIS)
Though Ammar’s Israelite Consistory is a top regional governing body, there are some who disagree with his recommendation.
“We should not give in to anything, we will continue to wear the kippah,” says France’s chief rabbi Haim Korsia.
Jewish neighborhoods have been under constant guard by 700 French soldiers since last year’s attacks on a kosher market in Paris that left four dead. (RELATED: French Jews Must Live Under Armed Guard To Ensure Safety)
As Many as 9,000 Jewish people left the country in 2015. Anti-Semitic attacks in France from January to May 2015 saw an 84 percent increase compared to the same time period in 2014, according to French government statistics.
“Not wearing the kippah can save lives and nothing is more important,” Ammar told La Provence. “It really hurts to reach that point but I don’t want anyone to die in Marseille because they have a kippa on their head.”
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