Lhe possibility of importing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into France is a major concern for public authorities and puts pressure on the security services. The knife attack in Paris on Saturday, December 2, evoking Gaza, even as a pretext, shows how justified this concern is. However, to create a society, and undoubtedly a nation, based on something other than the rejection of a part of this same society, we must go well beyond the question of security.
Indeed, today, Jews and Muslims alike are afraid of the effects of what is happening in the Middle East on their lives and their security in France. If we allow this fear to take hold, we are heading towards the political catastrophe that would be the possibility offered to small far-right groups to establish order. Another story must emerge, so that everyone can relate to it, and whose bases are not in the Middle East but here at home.
First of all, it is essential to recognize the seriousness of the Shoah, its current implications and France’s responsibility in this genocide. The attack of October 7 was not an attack like any other, it was not yet another action by a Palestinian terrorist group. Its scale, the surprise in which it took place and the cruelty of the attackers awakened something very deep in the Jewish community which is, nothing more and nothing less, the fear of the return of extermination.
Moreover, we clashed a lot over the qualification of the acts of October 7. Without going back to that, the word that finally emerged, and partly imposed itself, was that of “pogrom”. This word refers to what history has produced that is most violent and anti-Semitic. Pogroms are part of the memory of the Jewish people. It is a word of the old and repeated discrimination suffered by the Jews of Europe, the genocidal outcome of which we know.
Straightforward words
Composing a political story worthy of the moment would consist of establishing the terms allowing the Jews of France to perceive that we absolutely understand the seriousness of the situation. Yes, the filthy beast of anti-Semitism can wake up at any moment. And if she was capable of producing the worst once, it is never impossible that she will do it again. In this context, it would be important for Emmanuel Macron to have today, following Jacques Chirac, unambiguous words on the role of France, but also of many of its leaders, in the rise of Nazism and their compromise. with this diet.
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