On social networks and in real life, wrath falls on LFI deputy David Guiraud for his reference to the “celestial dragons” of the manga One piece. On But, very quickly, this reference fell on him, on the one hand because the “celestial dragons” were monopolized by the fascist sphere to designate the Jews, on the other hand because the deputy openly supports the Palestinians. Accused of anti-Semitism, the elected official claims to have been threatened at his home and he is also the subject of a complaint from the Jewish Observatory of France.
We can no longer find the post of discord, it having been quickly deleted by David Guiraud. “I don’t want to offend anyone so I prefer to delete,” he declared on the social network on Monday. In the process, the MP attempted a justification to put out the fire lit by the reference to “celestial dragons” which earned him hundreds of comments describing him as anti-Semitic. “Let’s leave religion out of this. Celestial Dragons are not a religion or a ‘race’ and if you think so you are reading it wrong One piece “, he insisted. In vain, the machine was launched, in particular because the fascist sphere has effectively seized the reference to the celestial dragons of the manga for around fifteen years to designate the Jews.
“He has a provocative side”
On Wednesday, David Guiraud once again returned to this controversy through a communicated on the header of the National Assembly without however directly mentioning his post mentioning the “celestial dragons”. He deplores that his “private home was targeted by serious malicious acts” and makes the link with his political commitment against the “ethnic cleansing of Palestinians”.
The MP believes that these “brutal and dishonest attacks aim to delegitimize all those who oppose Israeli policies”. Understandably, calling him an anti-Semite for quoting One piece is a way of diverting the debate as confirmed by the political scientist and boss of Sciences po Lille, Pierre Mathiot: “He has a provocative side and supports the Palestinian cause without nuance”, adding that “it is very difficult to denounce today Israeli policy without being accused of being anti-Semitic.
Nevertheless, David Guiraud assumes that he is not “always skillful” in his responses and assures “recognize [ses] errors”. He defends himself from “thoughts which were never the [siennes] “, in other words of being anti-Semitic, but insists that he “refuses to [se] silence” in the face of the “monstrous carnage perpetrated by the Israeli army”. MP says he doesn’t want “help from those who hate Jews” and is fighting “for a ceasefire […] and so that the Palestinian people live free and with dignity.”
For Matthieu Pinon, journalist and author specializing in manga, this is perhaps the real reference to One piece : “The celestial dragons are the Sun King to the power of a thousand. A caste that oppresses others.”