Hugh Fitzgerald
On October 7, French President Emmanuel Macron was among the first to declare his solidarity with, and support for, Israel as it began its war to root out Hamas from Gaza. Three weeks later, his tone had changed, and he has now been lecturing Israel on the need to “stop bombing,” which, if Israel were to agree to do so, would constitute a victory for Hamas and a defeat for Israel.
An Israeli official, who does not want to be identified, has said that Macron’s change in attitude toward Israel’s campaign in Gaza was the result of “domestic politics.” By that he meant the pressure on Macron from the five million Muslims in France to end his support for Israel in Gaza, and to start getting tough with the Jewish state. More on this can be found here: “French Jews worry Muslim unrest could see Macron flip on Israel, putting them at risk,” by Canaan Lidor, Times of Israel, November 14, 2023:
Philippe Karsenty, a French-Jewish media analyst and former deputy mayor of the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, was more specific. “Macron is seeking to avoid a civil insurrection by Muslims. He doesn’t want another French intifada, so he’s betraying Israel,” said Karsenty.
Karsenty is exactly right. There are only 500.000 Jews in France, but nearly five million Muslims, or ten times as many. When the Jews march, as they do so very seldom, they do so, in quiet and dignified fashion, only to express their alarm over antisemitism, and their solidarity with the embattled Jewish state. There is no yelling, no violence, no setting fire to cars, no attacks on police stations and mayoral offices.
But when the Muslim mobs form, they yell their hatred of Jews and of the French, smash shop windows, set thousands of cars on fire, ignore police orders to stop their vandalism and disperse, and even fight with the police — an entirely different affair from the Jewish marches. And if a Muslim is injured or killed by the police when fleeing, all hell breaks loose throughout the Hexagon.
Macron on October 19 acknowledged in more explicit terms that he’s worried that the conflict between Israel and Hamas might spill into France unless it’s handled correctly. “If we handle this poorly, this could become an element of division,” he told a journalist during a meeting with young adults.
In June and July, a deadly wave of protests rocked France for weeks following the death of a 17-year-old Muslim killed by police, reportedly after failing to pull over when driving without a license. Rioters wounded hundreds of security officers, torched nearly 6,000 vehicles and vandalized at least 1,000 buildings in clashes that resulted in the arrest of some 3,500 suspects and the death of two of them….
These are the violent riots that Macron hopes to avoid by backing away from his initial support for Israel.
On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people marched against antisemitism in Paris at a rally organized by the presidents of the lower and upper houses of the French parliament. Former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande also marched, but Macron was conspicuously absent.
1 comment:
Boy toy is just an imp in service of the anti christ.
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