March 06, 2013
A few weeks ago, a study showed that anti-Semitic attacks in France had risen 58% in 2012. And, despite an upsurge in the popularity of horsemeat in France, today it was announced that a public school near Bordeaux in southern France would no longer accommodate its Jewish and Muslim students with meat alternatives to pork in school lunches, presumably because of budgetary constraints.
In a statement, the school’s management said that out of a total of 180 pupils, 28 do not eat pork. The school said the students who don’t eat pork may switch to a vegetarian menu. “They have enough things to eat at the cafeteria, including proteins,” the school management is quoted as telling the radio station.
In other words, let them eat cake.
Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.