Why, then, did they kill Elsa Cayat? The New York Times didn’t address that obvious contradiction.

Linda Geller-Schwartz, Florida State Policy Advocacy Co-Chair
National Council of Jewish Women

Europe and America are still reeling from last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris and seeking solidarity and defiance through the declaration of “Je suis Charlie.” The brutal murders at Charlie Hebdo appeared to be a direct threat to the liberal, secularist, humanist societies we have created. Whether the cartoons were racist or legitimate satire was beside the point when the response was cold-blooded murder.

As progressive Jewish women, we must recognize the need for an additional form of solidarity. The terrorists wanted to kill not just freedom of speech, but also Jews. President Hollande referred to the attack in the Kosher Market as an “appalling anti-Semitic attack” — one that resulted in the murder of four Jewish men. This was not an isolated incident of anti-Semitism in France. Just last month, a Jewish couple living in the suburbs of Paris were attacked in their home by robbers looking for money. They had been targeted, according to one of the attackers, because “Jews, they’ve got cash.” After stealing whatever they could find, the two young men brutally raped the woman.

It is little wonder that an increasing number of French Jews are emigrating to Israel. They see little future in France (and maybe, in Europe) in the face of growing anti-Semitism.

Why, “Je suis Elsa”? Dr. Elsa Cayat was the only woman killed at Charlie Hebdo. She was a psychoanalyst who wrote a bi-weekly column, “Charlie Divan,” on gender relations and sexuality. By all accounts, she was a brilliant, passionate woman — “une femme extraordinaire.” She believed strongly in the mission of Charlie Hebdo and the commitment of her colleagues there.

It is assumed she was killed in the attack at Charlie Hebdo because she had made the fateful decision to attend the staff meeting last week. Yet, the New York Times reported that the gunmen spared a woman cartoonist and a woman journalist, telling them: “We don’t shoot women! We don’t shoot women! We don’t shoot women!” (January 8, 2015)

I am a woman, I am Jewish, and I believe profoundly in the freedoms and rights we have fought for to create and sustain Western democracies.

Why, then, did they kill Elsa Cayat? The New York Times didn’t address that obvious contradiction.

In an interview on CNN on January 9, Elsa’s cousin Sophie Bramley told Erin Burnett that she believed Elsa was killed because she was Jewish. According to Sophie, Elsa had been receiving threatening calls, claiming that she was a “dirty Jew” and that, if she didn’t stop working for Charlie Hebdo, she would be killed. The threats were acted on.

So, “Je suis Elsa.” I am a woman, I am Jewish, and I believe profoundly in the freedoms and rights we have fought for to create and sustain Western democracies. Once again, as has happened repeatedly over history, the fact that one is Jewish trumps every other characteristic — gender, class, age, heart, beliefs — according to an ideology premised on anti-Semitism.

We need to recognize this and fight against it. And when the media ignore it, we need to remind them that it is real.