‘BETTER GET OUT EARLY THAN LATE’

Barcelona’s chief rabbi urges Jews to move to Israel as he warns Europe is 'lost' because of threat from radical Islam

By Anthony Joseph

Daily Mail
August 19, 2017

Barcelona's chief rabbi has urged Jews to move to Israel after warning that Europe has been 'lost' because of the threat from radical Islam.

At least 14 people were killed and some 130 others injured when attackers ploughed into pedestrians on a promenade in the tourist area on Thursday evening.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Barcelona outrage and another attack in Cambrils yesterday, which resulted in one person dying and seven people being injured after five men wearing fake suicide belts drove an Audi A3 into crowds on the seafront.

Western Europe has been a regular target for jihadists over the last few years. And Barcelona's chief rabbi Meir Bar-Hen told his congregation to move to Israel to flee terror.

In an interview with Jewish news agency JTA, he said: 'I tell my congregants: Don't think we're here for good, and I encourage them to buy property in Israel'

'This place is lost. Don't repeat the mistake of Algerian Jews, of Venezuelan Jews. Better (get out) early than late. Europe is lost.'

The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain did not to share Bar-Hen's pessimistic outlook. The organization issued a statement Thursday, saying: 'Spanish Jews trust the State Security Corps that work daily to prevent radical fanatics and Islamists from sowing chaos and pain in our cities.'

The group also urged politicians to 'deal intelligently and determinedly with the struggle against fanaticism and in favor of freedom and democracy.'

EDITOR’S NOTE: I think the rabbi’s advice should be heeded. The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain reminds me of similar groups during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany. They were convinced that the virulent anti-Semitism of the Nazis was just a passing phase.