All against racism and anti-Semitism

Anti-racist collectives and associations, unions and political parties are warning about the current wave of anti-Semitism and conspiracy.

The Covid pandemic gives rise to an anti-Semitic and conspiratorial wave. It takes the form of the assimilation of vaccination and the Holocaust health pass. Yellow stars are brandished. A « Nazi pass » is condemned and compared to the grim inscription on the portal of the Auschwitz death camp.

It all started on August 7 in Metz, a teacher, Cassandre Fristot, legislative candidate in 2012 for the RN (still named FN at the time), is currently awaiting trial for having brandished a sign deemed anti-Semitic during an anti-health pass demonstration. We can read a “Who?” decorated with devil horns. Around, the names of members of the government and personalities believed to be Jewish. No one seems to be straying from her and under the photographer’s eye, this teacher doesn’t flinch.

Anti-Semitic words and acts have exploded in and out of recent demonstrations, in particular those not hesitating to designate Jewish personalities as responsible for the health situation, in direct and explicit form, or through the use of the coded anti-Semitic term « Who? » », Which seeks to stigmatize the Jews, designated as responsible and beneficiaries of the pandemic. Simone Veil’s stele in Perros-Guirec has been soiled and desecrated on several occasions.

Where does this anti-Semitism come from and what are its specificities?

Michel Wieviorka, to be analyzed for « Le HuffPost »; « this expression of anti-Semitism is not the one we find in the Arab-Muslim world, linked to the Israeli-Palestinian question. The anti-Semitism of the anti-health pass demonstrations is » that of the extreme right  » , explains Michel Wieviorka. An ancestral anti-Semitism, « with enormous historical depth, » adds the specialist, which is regularly found according to historical contexts. « 

From the Middle Ages to the Covid, Jews are scapegoats

“The health crisis – as often in the history of crises – is a breeding ground for the expression of this anti-Semitism. Jews are traditional scapegoats, if I may say so. Remember, they were accused of poisoning the wells. ”In these demonstrations where conspiracy theories cloud the minds of some demonstrators, this archaic anti-Semitism resurfaces,” according to Michel Wieviorka.

Right-wing extremists are at the forefront of this campaign. These include Florian Philippot, former spokesperson for Marine Le Pen, the self-proclaimed leader of the opposition to any precaution in the face of Covid. But anti-Semitic words and speeches are tolerated well beyond that. The legitimate debate on the content of sanitary measures and the appreciation of government policy is diverted in favor of totally reactionary conspiracy theories.

Faced with this situation, it is necessary and urgent that the anti-racists come forward and strongly and unambiguously condemn these manifestations of hatred and conspiracy, whose deep links with anti-Semitism are known. No, the Jews are not poisoning the wells nor are they the big beneficiaries of the ongoing epidemic. The age-old accusation that targets them continues to stigmatize them as carriers of a global plot to dispossess peoples. It is time to strongly condemn this murderous ideology which has already led to numerous massacres. There is a need for political clarity, because anti-Semitic conspiracy is a real poison for the social movement, the left, emancipation and any critical analysis of society. To consent to this confusion is to pave the way for the far right, as history has witnessed many times.

We therefore wish to alert trade unions, associations and politicians who claim to be promoting social progress that it is not possible to remain passive in the face of protests where anti-Semitism is expressed on a recurring basis.

The rally was supported by (first signatories) Memorial 98, the Union Syndicale Solidaires, the FSU, the Collectif Cases rebelles, the Young Guard, the UCL, the Union of Jews for Resistance and Mutual Aid (UJRE) the LDH, Attac-France, the Copernic Foundation, the Anarchist Federation, etc.

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Gabriel MIHAI

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