French president Emanuel Macron caused a stir in a country already beset by turmoil when he equated anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism in a speech delivered at a dinner for CRIF, the umbrella organization for French Jewish agencies. He declared that henceforth France would adopt the definition of anti-Semitism set down by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

Macron’s remarks came in an atmosphere riven by violent street protests led by the Gilets Jaunes (“yellow vests”) movement. The uprising took a disturbing turn last week: several rioters cornered philosopher Alain Finkelkraut, a son of Holocaust survivors, calling him a “dirty Zionist” and telling him to “go back to Tel Aviv.”

This occurred against the backdrop of increasing incidents against French Jews over the last few years. Mishpacha’s Jean-Yves Camus, a journalist and political scientist, shed some light on the situation in a Q&A from his home in Paris.

Emanuel Macron said that France has not seen this level of anti-Semitism since the 1930s. What did he mean?

He is referring to the rise in the number of anti-Semitic incidents — 541 in 2018, a 74% rise over the 311 in 2017. Those incidents include the horrific murder of Mireille Knoll and a wave of physical violence on Jews. That is obviously worrying. However, the record number was in 2004, 974 incidents — after 936 in 2003. The trend began in 2000, because of the Second Intifada, with 744 incidents. But the character of these incidents is different from the 1930s, because most of the perpetrators are Muslim, not neo-Nazis.

Where is this wave coming from? Is it the far right, the far left, the Yellow Jackets? What led to the massive jump in 2018?

We don’t have a clue. The Yellow Vest protests started mid-November, so they cannot be blamed for whatever took place before. It seems most incidents involve people with a Muslim immigrant background who believe the usual Jewish stereotypes — rich and greedy, controlling the banks, media, and politicians. These people are not pro-Palestine activists but sympathize with that cause.

The far right is involved in threats, hate mail, and swastika graffiti, but don’t physically attack the Jews. The far left holds anti-Zionist beliefs that often veer close to anti-Semitism, but generally do not assault the Jews. All murders of Jews since 2006 are linked to Islamism or to nonobservant Muslim people who are also often thugs with criminal records.

President Macron declared that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. Is he serious, or is this more political rhetoric?

The president really believes what he said. However, the president said the IHRA definition of anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism will not become part of the criminal code. In other words, saying you oppose Zionism will not be prosecutable, unless the context proves it is anti-Semitic. It’s already possible to be prosecuted for carrying out an anti-Zionist attack. The man who attacked philosopher Alain Finkielkraut has been arrested because his intent was obviously anti-Semitic. Incidentally, that man was a Christian who converted to Salafi Islam.

 What does Macron’s statement mean practically for the BDS movement? Is it criminalized, or prosecutable?

BDS is already criminalized and prosecutable, since a 2015 Higher Court ruling. Macron’s speech means courts will probably be more stringent when anti-Zionism is used as a cover for overt anti-Semitism. But it will not be possible, for example, to ban a demonstration on the mere grounds that it opposes Zionism, or to prosecute someone who says he opposes Zionism.

How normalized has anti-Semitism become in France, and what steps are needed to fight it?

Anti-Semitism is on the decline in all segments of French society, except in the most observant Muslim population, and of course among the small, bigoted minority of extreme-right Catholic fundamentalist militants. The only way to efficiently fight anti-Semitism is to prosecute and jail the perpetrators. A zero-tolerance policy is what we need.

But whatever we shall do, let’s not entertain the fancy belief that we can stop anti-Semitism. This is a belief for secular people. The G-d-fearing Jew knows this is not possible. I have quite a hard time explaining this as an academic.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 750)