Death to the Jews? Plus ça change

There is a saying in France: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose".

Meaning: the more things change, the more they stay the same.

125 years ago this journalist, Theodor Herzl, watched demonstrators on the streets of Paris chanting "Death to the Jews" over a libel of treason against French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus. The Jewish captain was ultimately exonerated and the real traitor exposed.

That event persuaded Herzl that Europe was not a safe place for Jews and that they must have their own homeland.

His Zionist vision is why the State of Israel exists today.

The rabid demonstrations on the streets of London, New York, Los Angeles and European cities - and the accompanying threats to Jews and their communities - only serve to reinforce the case for the Jewish state and its robust defence of national security.