Tens of thousands of people are expected to march against anti-Semitism in Paris. But what was intended as a symbol of unity caused massive political dispute in advance.
Jews in France felt lonely and abandoned, the president of the Jewish associations in France, Yonathan Arfi, said this week. The great march against anti-Semitism will hopefully resolve this feeling of loneliness. And he added: “The Jewish French have the feeling that they are experiencing a decisive, a historic moment for their entire existence in France.”
The demonstration in Paris was registered by the President of the National Assembly, Yaël BraunPivet from the ruling Renaissance party, and by the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher from the conservative Les Républicains. There must be a departure, Larcher demanded, and Braun-Pivet explained on the TF1 channel: “The tension, the hatred, the growing anti-Semitism are affecting us. We cannot stand idly by. And that is why we have started this joint action.”
Trouble over participants
But what was intended as a strong sign of unity against anti-Semitism had already caused arguments for days beforehand. The leading figure of the extreme left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, denigrated the initiative of the two parliamentary speakers. He wrote on Platform X that this was the “demonstration of those who unconditionally support the massacre in Gaza.” He announced that his party, La France insoumise, would not take part in the demonstration and instead registered a demonstration against the war in Gaza.
The reaction of the largest extreme right-wing party is also causing heated debates. Because the Rassemblement National (RN) also wants to march. Group leader Marine Le Pen said on television channel TF1: “I will be there, party leader Jordan Bardella will be there, as will all our MPs. And I call on every supporter of our party to join this demonstration.”
Government spokesman Olivier Véran countered that the right-wingers had no place at the demonstration. The head of the Socialists, Olivier Faure, sees it the same way and explained that the RN has not broken with its anti-Semitic past. Faure was referring to an interview that RN boss Bardella gave to the television station BFMTV this week. In it, the young party leader squirmed when he was asked whether the founder of the previous Front National party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was an anti-Semite.
As a reminder, Jean-Marie Le Pen once called the Holocaust a “detail of history” and was convicted in court for anti-Semitic statements. Still, Bardella couldn’t bring himself to call the party’s founding father an anti-Semite. In doing so, he provided the RN’s critics with an opening and fueled the dispute over the RN’s participation in the demonstration.
Jewish representatives castigate the extreme left
But not everyone is critical of the announced participation of RN members. The party received approval from, of all people, Serge Klarsfeld, the Jewish lawyer and president of the “Daughters and Sons of the Deported Jews in France” association. Klarsfeld said on radio station Europe 1 that the RN had no longer been anti-Semitic for several years and was in the process of internalizing republican values. “However, we can do without the anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic left. The Rassemblement National has become socially acceptable and we will welcome it to the demonstration on Sunday.”
Everything is currently playing into the hands of RN parliamentary group leader and ex-presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and she had the skill to humbly announce that she would – if necessary – walk at the end of the demonstration.
President Emmanuel Macron tried this week to expose what he sees as the unfair intentions of both extreme camps. He indirectly accused the left-wing leader Mélenchon of wanting to curry favor with his supporters within the Muslim community with his ambiguous stance on anti-Semitism. And with regard to the Rassemblement National, Macron suggested – without, of course, mentioning the name of the party – that the motive of the right-wing extremists was not actually to support Jews, but to reject Muslims.
Number more anti-Semitic Actions increase sharply
Given the rapid rise in anti-Semitic acts since October 7, Macron said at an event on Wednesday: “To attack a Jew is to attack the Republic.” It’s about swastika graffiti, verbal threats but also physical attacks. Interior Minister Darmanin announced that more than 500 people had been temporarily arrested in connection with around 1,200 anti-Semitic acts in recent weeks. More than 100 of them would lose their residence status, said Darmanin.
Dangerous mixture
It is questionable whether the demonstration in Paris and the many planned rallies across the country will make Jewish citizens feel safer again. The fact is that right-wing, left-wing and Muslim anti-Semitism are currently a toxic mix. Hatred of Israel and Jews is widespread in the migrant community.
The head of the Jewish Students of France, Samuel Lejoyeux, said ARD Studio Paris: “Today at university if you want to demonstrate your support for Israel or simply the fact that you are Jewish, you will immediately be threatened, insulted as a dirty Zionist, that is the reality.” But the tension doesn’t just exist between Jews and Muslims. The hatred of Jews is also exploited by the extreme left-wing parties, which are very present at the university.
Now in France it depends on the moderate and conciliatory voices, like that of Hassen Chalghoumi. The Imam of Drancy emphatically called on all Muslims to demonstrate on Sunday. “This is a march for the whole of society. If our fellow Jews can no longer put on the kippah outside, that is unworthy. And that deserves that we demonstrate and all take to the streets.”