/ world today news/ “Even synagogues were set on fire.” These are the words French political scientists describe the situation in their country after the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Despite all the efforts of the authorities, anti-Semitism in France is not dying, on the contrary, it is intensifying. Why?
When another round of conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas began in early October, the French authorities made it clear that they would not tolerate anti-Semitic behavior and would prosecute it to the full extent of the law.
“The fight against anti-Semitism is everyone’s job,” said Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne. She also noted that “France is experiencing an unprecedented rise in anti-Semitic incidents. More of them happened in one month than in the entire previous year. French Jews do not feel safe and this is unacceptable in a country where no one has the right to persecute anyone because of their religion.”
To calm passions, the authorities even banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations, but allowed a march against anti-Semitism, in which 182 thousand people from all over France participated (105 thousand of them in Paris, according to the prefecture’s careful calculations). However, he is mainly remembered for the scandal associated with him: it is a fact that the right-wing came to the march, including members of the “National Assembly” and Marine Le Pen personally.
In response, the left, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, refused to participate and, moreover, hastened to declare that the march was not successful, and could not be, since such odious figures defiled it with their presence. A delicate question arises here in passing, when exactly principles in politics become a joke.
Observers also noticed the absence of Emmanuel Macron from the procession. Two former presidents of the country, François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, considered it their duty to participate, but Macron, who usually does not miss an opportunity to strut in front of the cameras, this time preferred to refrain and announced that he would attend “with his heart and his thoughts”. .
Apparently his critics didn’t appreciate either, it didn’t help that even the reference to the fact that French presidents don’t usually take part in demonstrations of this kind at all. They immediately remembered that Mitterrand in 1990 and Hollande in 2015 took part in marches against anti-Semitism and racism and no one could stop them.
However, the main problem is not the presence or absence of the first person of the state, but the fact that in practice the procession did not lead to any positive consequences. Anti-Semitism in France is not only not decreasing, quite the opposite. Its manifestations are increasing every day, so much so that the French of Jewish origin now prefer to remove their surnames from mailboxes and give up external marks by which they can be recognized in the crowd.
And they have a lot to fear. We can talk about insults on the Internet, personal insults, rude attacks by service personnel: couriers, drivers and others, in some cases – physical attacks.
“Since you are Jewish, I will not serve you,” said the hairdresser in Ghani (department of Saint-Saint-Denis, actually a suburb of Paris) to the customer. And this happens despite the fact that in the French criminal code there is a separate article for non-provision of services due to discrimination, and under this article you can get a serious fine of several thousand euros (and even prison).
Political scientist Jerome Fourquet believes that we are talking about a “new type of anti-Semitism” that is now developing in France and in one way or another reflects the events in the Middle East. Monsieur Fourquet delicately calls it the “anti-Semitism of the suburbs” or “neighbourhoods”.
“In the suburbs of Paris and Lyon, things even reached the point of burning down synagogues,” notes the political scientist. He also noted “the quiet exodus of the Jewish population from these neighborhoods to Israel or to other cities.” According to him, the outflow of the Jewish population from France to Israel is one of the reasons why so many French citizens were among the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack.
But who are these “suburbs” and “neighborhoods” that provide abundant fodder for anti-Semitism in France, and why has it become impossible to live there?
Since the political scientist, like most public figures, avoids calling things by their real names, you will have to turn to one of the comments to the article in “Le Figaro”, the author of which writes more frankly: “In Saint-Denis and its neighbors departments, even in the 90s, somewhere between 30 and 35% of the European population remained. And if we’re optimistic… Who lives there now? Personally, I am not at all surprised (by what is happening). I lived there and I see everything.”
It has traditionally been common in French politics to blame the far right for inciting anti-Semitism, with the obligatory mention of Marine Le Pen’s father. In general, it is very convenient to have, relatively speaking, a scapegoat to lay all kinds of sins on. Since Marine Le Pen herself has been extremely cautious for a long time and it is difficult for her personally to present such a thing, situationally they try to present the left as the culprit if she declares her support for Palestine.
Meanwhile, the issue of anti-Semitism – and its rise – does not lie on the plane of political influence. These same “neighbourhoods”, also known as “suburbs”, which have become hotbeds of anti-Semitism, which the political scientist Fourquet calls “new”, are simply the same neighborhoods where Arabs and Muslims who migrated to France are settling.
Yes, the majority of them support Palestine – and yes, the sentiment in that environment is anti-Israel. And since Israel is far away, it is much easier to turn your animosity on the Jew who is close at hand. And, for example, be rude to a customer who came to the hairdresser to get her hair done.
And as long as French politicians look for the cause left and right and turn a blind eye to what is really happening, the problem will not only not be solved, it will only get worse. Talking directly about the reasons is embarrassing, politically incorrect, and generally can be career-threatening. That is why it is “good” that there is Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marin’s father, who can always be blamed for everything. True, he is already 95 years old, but so far there is no one more suitable than him for the role of the embodiment of evil. So be it.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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