media defamation, political recomposition (Le Monde Diplomatique, November 2023)

Est-this is due to the domination of mediocre political journalism which only lives by thinking about the latest tweets and the next elections ? The war crimes of Hamas in Israel, immediately followed by Israeli massacres in Gaza, allowed the French political class and journalists to promote two twin objectives: to disqualify the “ leftmost », whitewash the extreme right. The weapon used in both cases ? The accusation of anti-Semitism, directed against those who are innocent of it while some guilty ones are exonerated.

“ Is Jean-Luc Mélenchon anti-Semitic? ? » was the first question asked, on November 14, by a star journalist from BFMTV to an MP from La France insoumise. For this type of accusation, no proof is required: it is enough to decree that a term used by the person who has been condemned in advance refers to an association of anti-Semitic ideas. It can be criticism of capitalism, American lobbies, liberal democracy, the media… or even the political choices of the Israeli extreme right, although many Jews reject them. Noam Chomsky, Pierre Bourdieu, Hugo Chávez, Jeremy Corbyn, but also The diplomatic world, have suffered this type of campaign, which is all the more devastating because this suspicion is – legitimately – infamous.

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At the same time, the far right, of which anti-Semitism is one of the historical foundations, obtains its republican honorary certificate. Because she vigorously whips the anti-Muslim horse that is increasingly popular in the Western political class at a time of “ clash of civilizations “. And because his political friends, ultranationalist and often racist, are in power in Israel. It would be paradoxical if a mobilization against anti-Semitism served as a stepping stone to the accession to power of the extreme right in France.