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Defiant response in UK synagogues and shops after Paris atrocity

January 15, 2015 12:52
People stand for a memorial gathering for the victims of the terrorist attacks in France

By

Simon Rocker,

Simon Rocker

4 min read

When the Centre for Jewish Life holds its next Friday night dinner for young adults at a smart London hotel at the end of the month, there will be a pause in the flow of wine and chatter. Special tributes will be paid that night to the victims of the kosher supermarket attack in Paris.

Last week's events would have been more sharply felt by many of those who go to the CJL, a West End-based club with a large cosmopolitan clientele. Rabbi Yosef Vogel, its managing director, reckons that of the 5,000 young people on its books, around a fifth are from France.

He said the centre would continue to deliver "a strong message of unity and pride. This is the only way you can combat something like this".

If Jews were to bow to fear by shying away from such events it would only give incentives to their enemies, he said.

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