france 2008/9
The number
of antisemitic incidents reported in France for 2008 remained stable compared
to the previous year. However, the downward trend
that began after the peak year of 2004, came to an abrupt end in January 2009,
when 360 incidents were recorded, as a result of mass mobilization against
Operation Cast Lead. With the tone largely set by
Islamists, supporters of the Far Left, the Radical Left and some activists of
the Far Right joined in virulently anti-Israel demonstrations, the peak being
on January 3, when some 50,000 people rallied.
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
The French
Jewish community, which numbers a little less than 600,000 out of a total
population of 64 million, is the largest in western Europe. The greatest
concentration is in the Paris area, followed by Marseille, Lyon, Nice and Toulouse. Strasbourg, where 12,000 Jews live, is a major religious and cultural center.
The three main organizations of French Jewry are the Conseil
Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France (CRIF), the Consistoire
Central de France (which elected a new chief rabbi, Gilles Bernheim, in June 2008),
and the Fonds Social Juif Unifié (FSJU). The Jewish Community Protection
Service (SPCJ) operates under the auspices of all three organizations and
publishes a yearly report.
There has been a dramatic revitalization of communal life since the early
1980s, reflected in the large number of Jewish private schools (about 100,
attended by 30 percent of Jewish schoolchildren, or some 30,000 pupils), as
well as synagogues (over 150 in the Paris area). Since the beginning of the
antisemitic wave which began in autumn 2000, many families have transferred
their children from state-run secular schools to Jewish schools, or to other
private schools, either Catholic or non-denominational. Some 1,560 French Jews immigrated
to Israel in 2008 compared to 2,335 in 2007.
POLITICAL PARTIES AND EXTRA-PARLIAMENTARY GROUPS
There were no
national elections in 2008, but elections to one half of the Conseils
Généraux (in the départements) and to the city councils
(nationwide) were held in March. The Extreme Left Lutte Ouvrière had a
few councilmen elected on Communist slates, and the Ligue Communiste
Révolutionnaire passed the 10 percent threshold in 11 cities, also
electing a few councilmen, either on its own or on joint slates with other
left-wing parties. The Extreme Right Front National fielded candidates in fewer
cities than in 2001. It won no mayoralty, although Marine Le Pen, daughter of
party head Jean-Marie Le Pen polled 30 percent in her stronghold of
Hénin-Beaumont, in northern France.
Extreme Right Parties
The Front
National (FN), founded in 1972, has been on the decline, especially since
Jean-Marie Le Pen’s poor showing in the 2007 presidential election and the
subsequent cuts in public funding of the party. The image of the party has also
been damaged due to internal strife over Le Pen’s successor as chairman. In
2008, Le Pen (born 1928) confirmed that he would step down after the next FN
national convention, to be held in 2010 or 2011. Although his daughter Marine declared
that she intends to take over as FN president, she will have to compete for the
leadership with another candidate, Euro MP Bruno Gollnisch. While Marine is
often compared to Italy’s Gianfranco Fini (see ASW 2004)
and the latter is regarded as a hardliner, Marine has stated that she does not
intend to change the fundamentals of FN ideology on such issues as immigration,
opposition to Islam and multiculturalism, and law and order. On Jewish and
Israel-related issues, she, unlike her father, has not been mentally shaped by World
War II history and has repeatedly said she does not support her father’s
trivialization of the Shoah. The official position of the party on Operation
Cast Lead was to condemn the Israeli invasion. Jean-Marie Le Pen stated on January 3, 2009 that Gaza looked like “a gigantic concentration camp” and that the
Palestinian resistance was similar “to the uprising of the Warsaw ghetto.”
The leader of the Mouvement National Républicain (MNR), Bruno
Mégret, announced in May that he was retiring from politics. His
successor is Annick Martin, but the party is almost non-existent. In September,
the MNR took part in an anti-Islam rally held in Germany by the Pro-Köln
movement.
Three parties tried to take advantage of the vacuum on the Far Right: the
Nouvelle Droite Populaire (NDP); the Parti de la France (PF) and the Bloc Identitaire (BI). The NDP, led by Robert Spieler, is a populist,
anti-Islam party launched in June 2008. While it did not take sides during the
Hamas/Israel confrontation, in September, it split, with Jean-François
Touzé forming the Nouvelle Droite Républicaine, which gave Israel unconditional support. The PF has been led since early 2009 by Carl Lang, a former
FN top executive. The Bloc Identitaire, led by Fabrice Robert, appears to be a
rising force on the Extreme Right. Although originally radical, including on
the issue of anti-Zionism, it now seeks to become a broad populist movement
similar to Italy’s Lega Nord, Belgium’s Vlaams Belang or Austria’s FPÖ,
opposing multiculturalism and the ”islamization” of Europe. Espousing “neither
keffieh, nor kippa,” the BI does not take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, although in January 2009 it clashed with Muslim demonstrators who
marched in Nice, in support of Gaza.
On the other hand, when Le Pen steps down, some groups and individuals
seek to rally radicals from within and outside the party around an anti-establishment,
racist, “anti-Zionist” Third Way which would include anti-capitalist and
anti-globalization ideas. The most vocal of these groups is the neo-Nazi Parti
Solidaire Français (PSF; formerly Droite Socialiste), led by Thomas
Werlet. On July 12, a PSF demonstration against the presence of IDF soldiers at
the Bastille Day parade in Paris, was banned and on September 27, the PSF
leadership showed up at the demonstration commemorating Al Quds Day, despite a
police ban. The former Réseau Radical, now active on the net at www.voxnr.com and led by Christian Bouchet, is
an interesting example of how a radical anti-Zionist, pro-Iran,
national-revolutionary group has chosen to work from within the FN and support
Marine Le Pen, in order to influence her policies.
The Left, the Greens and the Anti-globalization Movement
The divide between the Extreme Left and the Radical Left
can be drawn on the issue of electoral alliances with the Social Democrats,
namely, the Socialist Party (PS). For example, while the NPA (see below) and others refuse
to become part of a government coalition, the Communist Party and the Greens
seek such an alliance.
There
are very few examples of plain, open antisemitism coming from the Far Left, and
people or organizations mentioned in this section cannot be labeled
antisemitic. However, they support various forms of anti-Zionist and
anti-Israel prejudice which convey a distorted view of the situation in the Middle East to members and voters. Demonization of Israel and its citizens continues to be
one of the reasons for the high level of antisemitism in France, and this is of grave concern to the Jewish community. Several Jewish communal leaders have
suggested that there is a direct link between the pro-Palestinian solidarity
propaganda that a number of Communist city councils have been disseminating,
and the level of antisemitism in those cities.
There
were two major events in 2008 on the Extreme Left. The first was the
transformation of the former Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire (LCR) into
the Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste (NPA). In a leaflet distributed on January 5,
2009, the NPA summed up its stand on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the
Gaza operation as follows: economic, political, cultural and sports relations
with Israel should be immediately suspended (both on the national and EU
level); the “slaughter” in Gaza and the blockade should be ended; refugees
should have the right to return; and all Palestinian prisoners should be freed.
Second, on December 8, Lutte Ouvrière
(LO), the other important Trotskyite party, announced that its 68-year-old
leader, Arlette Laguiller, would step down in 2009 and would be replaced by a
38-year-old teacher, Nathalie Arthaud. Because of its rigid secularism, LO is
hostile to cooperation with Islamists. Thus, although it took part in the anti-Israel
demonstrations, it played a minor role. On January 9, 2009, Arlette Laguiller wrote an editorial in the party weekly, stating that although Hamas came to
power in Gaza by a majority vote, it was “a reactionary organization that
imposes a dictatorship on its own people, by suppressing the other Palestinian
movements.” NPA, on the hand, asked the EU to remove the Hamas from its list of
terrorist movements, and supports the right of the Palestinian people to armed
resistance. Undoubtedly, the majority on the Extreme Left support the line of
the NPA, while LO is in the minority. All Extreme Left groups agree upon a “single,
secular, democratic, bi-national state in Israel/Palestine” solution.
In December 2008 and January 2009, all groups
from the Trotskyite, Maoist and anarchist Extreme Left demonstrated against Israel during Operation Cast Lead. The issue of whether some of the slogans in those
demonstrations were antisemitic (such as “Zionists, fascists, you are the
terrorists” and comparisons of Gaza with the Warsaw Ghetto and Nazi
concentration camps) was not raised by the leadership of these groups, except
by that of anarchist groups such as the Confédération Nationale
du Travail (CNT). On January 24, several Extreme Right groups called to
demonstrate against Israel, alongside Far Leftists and Islamists, under a
banner that called for a “united front against Zionism.” The demonstrators from
the Extreme Right were attacked by CNT stewards and were obliged to march apart
from the main group.
A development of
concern has been the broad support for Hizballah and Hamas both on the Extreme
Left and among Muslim activists of the Palestinian cause. Groups that
now endorse those terrorist movements are the Indigènes de la République, the Association Générale des Etudiants de Nanterre (AGEN),
the Comité de soutien à Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the French
branch of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and the Mouvement de
Soutien à la Résistance du Peuple Palestinien (MSRPP). This
radical pro-Palestinian coalition is predominantly secular, not Islamist, and
although many followers are Arab immigrants, many leaders are native French,
non-Muslim leftists. The largest such
group is CAPJPO (Coordination des Appels pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient: http://www.europalestine.com), whose leader is a Jew, Olivia
Zémor. The Union Juive Française pour la Paix (UJFP) is another Jewish-led, anti-Zionist group used by the anti-Zionist Far Left in
media appearances to rebuff accusations of antisemitism.
Another
high-profile movement is the loose network of individuals supporting the
well-known comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala, whose unofficial website (http://lesogres.org)
is undoubtedly one of the most virulently antisemitic sites in France. In 2008, Dieudonné intensified his involvement in radical anti-Jewish
activities. In July, he chose Jean-Marie Le Pen as the godfather of his newborn
girl. The ceremony was performed by Father Philippe Laguérie, a
traditionalist priest who is known for his anti-Jewish sermons. On December 28,
during a public performance in Paris, Dieudonné invited Holocaust denier
Robert Faurisson to join him on stage and asked him to wear a yarmulke in a stunt
mocking the victims of the Shoah. Both men were indicted for this offense. In
January 2009 Dieudonné began working with Shi`i activists from the
Centre Zahra, a small group known for its close ties to the Iranian regime. Its
Moroccan-born leader Yahia Gouasmi, decided on January 16, 2009 to launch a political party named Parti Anti-Sioniste (PAS), whose aim is to contest the June
2009 European election on a common slate with Dieudonné and antisemitic
novelist Alain Soral.
The Communist
Party played a leading role in the anti-Israel rallies. It claimed that Israeli
military actions were “crimes against humanity” and asked both France and the
EU to impose sanctions on Israel. The party drew particular criticism from Jewish
institutions such as CRIF for having used
as posters during the demonstrations a front page from the Communist daily l’Humanité,
which showed the severed head of a child lying on the ground (http://www.pcf.fr/spip.php?article3334).
The Greens, who are as probably as biased against Israel as the Extreme and the
Radical Left, also took part in the demonstrations and called for sanctions
against Israel because of its alleged war crimes. However, it condemned the
rocket fire by Hamas, which it labeled “an extremist, religiously fanatic and
women-oppressing movement.” One of the most vocal supporters of Hamas is Alima
Boumédiène-Thierry, a Green senator from Paris who wants the EU to
remove Hamas from its list of terrorist organizations.
In November 2008, Senate member Jean-Luc
Mélanchon, split from the Socialist Party and launched (officially on January 30, 2009) the Parti de Gauche (PG). The PG took part in the anti-Israel marches,
but because of its secularist ideology, issued a statement on January 13, which
explicitly condemned the “communitarian” approach to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict as well as the antisemitic actions perpetrated in France during Operation Cast Lead. The PG explicitly supports a two-state solution, as do the
Communists and the Greens.
On January 14, the Communist Party, the PG and the
Green Party signed a joint statement condemning the antisemitic incidents that took
place in France. The statement also condemned both the actions of the IDF in Gaza and the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, and re-affirmed the right of both Israel and the Palestinians to their own state, “within secure and mutually recognized
borders.” However, in order not to anger rank and file militant opponents of Israel, it was first issued by two NGOs close to the Left, the Ligue des Droits de l’Homme
and the Ligue de l’Enseignement.
On January 15, 2009, several Muslim associations called for a sit-in in front of the national headquarters of the Socialist
Party, in order to protest against the party’s refusal to condemn Israel. One of the slogans was “Parti Socialiste, Parti Sioniste” (a pun on the party’s
name, equating it with a “Zionist party”). Far from being a fringe event, the
demonstration was staged by the UOIF (see below), the Addawa mosque (the
largest in Paris); the Tawhid Center (pro-Tariq Ramadan − see ASW 2007),
Présence et Solidarité Musulmane (the French branch of the
Moroccan Al Adl Wal Ihsane) and several of the largest mosques in Paris suburbs.
Islamist Groups
There was
little change in this sector in 2008 (see ASW 2007).
In regard to the operation in Gaza, the orthodox
Sunni Union des Organisations Islamiques de France (UOIF), a faction of the Conseil Français du Culte Musulman (CFCM),
the representative body of religious Muslims in
France, issued a press release on December 29 condemning the “unprecedented
genocide of the Palestinian population by the Israeli army” (http://www.uoif-online.com/webspip/spip.php?article421),
a phrasing erroneously interpreted by CRIF as meaning that the Gaza operation
was “the worst genocide in the history of humanity” (http://www.rue89.com/2009/01/04/le-dialogue-entre-musulmans-et-juifs-de-france-gele-par-la-guerre).
The UOIF also called on France to impose sanctions on Israel. As a result, the dialogue between CRIF and the CFCM was suspended, although the new
chairman of CFCM, Mohammed Moussaoui, took a very moderate stand on the Gaza issue. The problem for CRIF was that UOIF is one of the founding members of CFCM and
sits on its board.
Antisemitic activities
The number of antisemitic manifestations
reported in France for 2008 remained stable compared to the previous year, with
397 incidents reported by the Ministry of the Interior and the CRIF compared to
402 in 2007. Sixty-one percent were physical violence (such
as murder/attempted murder, assaults and arson/attempted arson) and 38
percent vandalism of private property. However,
the downward trend that began after the peak year of 2004 (974 incidents), came
to an abrupt end in January 2009, when 360 incidents were recorded, as a result
of mass mobilization against Operation Cast Lead.
Operation Cast Lead
The first rally against the Israeli operation in Gaza took place in Paris on December 30, 2008 and the last, on January 24, 2009. The biggest one was held on
January 3 in Paris, with an estimated 50,000 participants, many of them
Muslims. This was more than took part in the demonstrations against prohibition
of the Muslim headscarf in public schools (see ASW 2004)
or even in support of the second intifada. (It should be noted that the Muslim
population is estimated at 4 million, including 2 million holding French
citizenship. French legislation forbids census questions relating to religious
affiliation.) The number of demonstrators in fact reached the level of
mobilization against the war in Iraq in 2003, with the difference that the Left
and Extreme Left had much less control of the 2009 ones. This may be illustrated
by focusing on the Paris demonstration that took place on January 3, which
turned into an Islamist-led urban riot: cars were burned, private property
destroyed, and policemen were hurt by an angry mob of about 500 anti-Jewish
youth, who came in large part from the suburbs of the capital city to loot and
yell their hatred of anything Israeli, Jewish, or simply representing the
French state, which they see as an ally of the “Zionists” in the oppression of
first and second-generation immigrants from the former colonies.
Since the start of the anti-Israel demonstrations, it was
clear that the crowd was asking for more than the usual slogans in support of
the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas, and the “rights of the Palestinian people.” The Association France-Palestine Solidarité
(AFPS), traditionally the organization to set the tone, was no longer unable to
channel the feelings of the militants: its open support for the PA and a two-state
solution was too moderate for the demonstrators who wanted to voice their
support for Hamas and the destruction of Israel, and also blamed the “Zionists”
for every evil in the world. These disaffected youth lack a coherent ideology,
think that the only “resistance” is that of Hamas and Hizballah, and use anti-Zionist
slogans that are merely code words to avoid prosecution for antisemitism. While
the official slogan during the period of the operation was “Stop the bombing
and blockade in Gaza,” on January 3, there was a huge banner in the crowd which
read: “Paris – Gaza – Beirut – Kabul – Baghdad – Jenin, Resistance!” On January
10,” shouts of “Zionists out of France” were heard in Paris and reliable sources
reported that “Death to the Jews” was also the slogan of a tiny group of pro-Hizballah
demonstrators.
On
December 31, a demonstration was organized in Paris by the Parti des Musulmans de France
(PMF, led by Mohammed Ennacer Latrèche and based in Strasburg) and the
Collectif Sheikh Yassine (Sheikh Yassin Group, led by Imam Abdelhakim
Sefrioui), named after the late leader of Hamas. The PMF is a radical fringe
movement which is openly antisemitic. It marched through heavily Muslim
districts of northern Paris and explained that Operation Cast Lead was decided
because the Israeli soldiers believe in “their Torah, which has become an
inspiration for committing the filthiest crimes.” The same slogans were
repeated on January 1, when Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was in Paris:
800 Islamists burned Israeli flags in front of the Paris Opera, while a group
of radicals chanted, “Israel, you are Nazi” and “Long live Hamas.” Another
popular slogan was: “United Nations, in 1948 you gave birth to a monster and
you named it Israel.”
As
noted, the peak of anti-Jewish mobilization was on January 3. The protesters
planned to march through Paris to the Israeli embassy, located near the
Champs-Elysées, which meant that it had to walk through the strongly Jewish
district located near the Grands Boulevards. When it arrived there, the Jewish
quarter was under heavy police protection and the streets leading to it were
closed, but the calls of “Allahu Akbar” and “Weapons for Hamas” left no doubt that
many wanted to physically confront the Jews. Much anti-Jewish literature was
sold on the sidewalks alongside the march. The Comité sur le
génocide en Palestine distributed a leaflet, entitled “The Planned
Genocide of the Palestinians” written by Ginette Skandrani, who was banned from
the Green Party because of her links to Holocaust deniers. The fact that this
was sold to the marchers is particularly interesting, since the committee is a
network of Jew-bashers from opposing ideological sides. The most interesting
leaflet, however, emanated from the Mouvement des Indigènes de la République, a secular group led by intellectuals of Arab descent who denounce the
French state as “neo-colonial.” The leaflet featured a photograph of Shaykh Izz
ad-Din al Qassam, “hero of the Palestinian revolution, who gave his name to the
armed branch of Hamas.”
Late in the evening, riots began. There were cries of “Death
to the Jews,” youths wearing “Hamas ” T-shirts threw stones at the police and
looted shops (not specifically Jewish-owned property), while black supremacists
of the Mouvement des Damnés de l’Impérialisme (MDI) distributed
their propaganda. During the demonstration MDI leaflets called on the “Arab
diaspora” to “fight effectively against the Zionist enemy who is occupying our
lands.” In 2008 and 2009, the MDI evolved into an ethno-differential movement
with a “pan-African” branch, an “Arab” branch and a “European” branch, composed
of white supremacists from national-revolutionary movements on the Extreme
Right.
