Antisemitism served as a fault line in French politics leading up to its parliamentary elections in the last two weeks, in the view of French activists like Marilou Brossier and Samuel Althan, angered by the failure of centrist politicians to exercise a stronger defense of fundamental French republican values.Brossier and Althan were founding members of Collectif 7 Octobre, advocating on behalf of hostages held by Hamas. They have participated in the actions of Collectif Nous Vivrons, fighting against the surge of antisemitism that France has been facing since the October 7 Massacre.
“The answer to antisemitism is quite a difficult topic here because it has literally fractured the nation in two,” said Brossier.
Brossier had seen left-wing parties slowly embracing the political opportunism of the Palestinian victim narrative and what she called the “decolonialism movement” over decades. Historically moderate socialist political wings became more entangled with more radical movements which have a streak of antisemitism, including the Islamist and decolonialist movements, according to Brossier.“When you think about antisemitism, it’s very clear to a lot of people here that all those acts used to be related very strongly with the right-wing,” said Bossier. “It’s quite obvious since October 7 that now it’s the left-wing. It is like an upside down movement....I’m sure there still are antisemitic people within far-right groups, but the thing is that today, this antisemitism is largely held and promoted by a left-wing in alliance with all these groups from ultra-left.”
The ideologies and positions embraced by the left have led to a “very strong backlash,” said Brossier. “The vast majority of French people want to defend our French values, which are Republican values, not just a political party.”
Secularism in France
Secularism is a longstanding principle of the French state, both in law and culture, Brossier explained, but many French Muslims were pushing to inject their religious practices into public life and state practice. This included calls for blasphemy laws, where she said that there should be a clear culture and legal regime that protects freedom of expression regarding religion.“The problem is that the left-wing, they’ve completely betrayed their fundamental values,” said Brossier.
PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON spoke and lectured about the issues that had been abandoned by the left, but did little. According to Brossier the center had constantly taken a “yes, but” approach, “to give a little bit to everyone and not having a firm line” on pivotal social issues. The refusal to take a strong defense on values made politics more vulnerable to extremes.“The left-wing is getting stronger with the narrative of oppressor and oppressed and anti-capitalism, and the right wing, little by little, took the place that should have been taken by Emmanuel Macron in defending our values,” said Brossier, adding that it was no wonder that 30% of voters supported National Rally in the first round of parliamentary elections.Althan said that the response to October 7 was an important part of the failure of values for Macron.“Right after October 7, there was a march, walking against antisemitism that was created in France. Usually, the person to lead such a march would be the president,” said Althan. “He didn’t go, which was a really, really bad signal to everyone, that antisemitism can be an [acceptable] opinion.”Antisemitism had only grown worse since the march. Althan had already told his children not to talk about Israel and Jewishness outside the home, and after the Hamas pogrom in southern Israel last year, he had to be even more careful.Althan said that what was needed was more discipline in school, with professors and teachers being supported instead of having to censor themselves. In early June a 12-year-old girl, just a little older than Althan’s children, was gang-raped in an antisemitic attack. No one took it seriously, according to Althan, and only the Jewish organizations and lawyers championed the girl’s case. He called it Hamas-like methods. Brossier said that children were being taught Islamic radical ideologies through groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, and because nothing was being done about it, it was no wonder many were turning to the far-right for answers.Brossier believed that many French people understood what happened to Israel on October 7, having had the evils of terrorism visited upon them with the 2015 Bataclan theater massacre, the Charlie Hebdo shooting, and the 2012 Toulouse and Montauban massacres. Yet the groups promoting antisemitism were aggressive and virulent, with half-measures taken by the center.“We need political courage, and not only in words. I think we need to be very firm also with the Muslim Brotherhood network that is definitely influencing European institutions. The French people need to be reassured, and they need to restore their confidence in their politicians,” said Brossier. “I think this is a big issue for us French, as voters, that our politicians represent them. They [politicians] really need to make sure that they will defend and protect our republican democratic system.”