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Against Racism, for Antisemitism: The Message of a March in Paris
Youths take part in the occupation of a street in front of the building of the Sciences Po University in support of Palestinians in Gaza, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Paris, France, April 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
JNS.org – Thousands of people marched through Paris at the end of March in what was billed as a protest against racism. It was another display of the long-standing alliance between the far left and Islamist groups, exemplified by the numerous Palestinian flags dotted alongside the red banners deployed by the organizers.
The march illustrated how the term “racism” has been appropriated by parts of the left to describe measures aimed at combating the spread of Islamism. Many of the demonstrators lashed out at Bruno Retailleau, the French interior minister, for his allegedly racist statements about Algeria, a French colony until its independence in 1962, and his support for a ban on the wearing of the Islamic veil—a rule that is imposed on women alone—in French institutions of higher education.
Yet closer inspection of both issues reveals that Retailleau has not uttered racist comments on either. On Algeria, Retailleau’s complaint is that the authorities in Algiers have consistently refused to accept Algerian nationals slated for deportation by France, including one man who carried out a deadly terrorist attack in the city of Mulhouse in February, leading him to warn that a 1968 agreement facilitating Algerian immigration to France would be reviewed unless that position is reversed. On the veil, he has eschewed bigoted language about “Islam” and “foreigners,” arguing instead that the “veil is not merely a piece of fabric; it is a banner for Islamism and a symbol of the subjugation of women to men.”
Once upon a time, that was an assertion made by the left.
But perhaps the most egregious aspect of the demonstration was its contemptuous approach to the problem of antisemitism, which has risen precipitously in France, as elsewhere in Europe, in the 18 months that have elapsed since the Hamas mass atrocities in Israel. There were no banners, no chants, no signs condemning the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust and its consequent unleashing of antisemitic rhetoric and violence against Jewish communities across the globe.
Indeed, the entire event suggested that in order to combat racism, the French far left—a large bloc that won 182 parliamentary seats in last year’s legislative elections—has embraced Jew-hatred as a strategy. A poster publicizing the march urged attendees to “fight the extreme right, its ideas and its networks.” To accentuate its point, the poster was dominated by an image of Cyril Hanouna, a right-wing pundit of Tunisian Jewish origin.
Hanouna was displayed in extreme close-up with his eyes narrowed in hostility and a curving, beak-like nose protruding over a snarling mouth. You don’t have to be an antisemitism expert to trace the lineage of an image like this one. In the French context, it is painfully reminiscent of the crude propaganda aimed at Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, the French Jewish army officer falsely convicted of espionage in 1894 amid a wave of bestial antisemitic violence.
It also brought to mind the Nazi demonization of the Jews and, more recently, social media memes like the “Happy Merchant,” an antisemitic caricature much loved by semi-literate, far-right delinquents like the American Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.
The offending image of Hanouna was eventually withdrawn but not before the guilty party here—the far-left “La France Insoumise” (“France Rising”)—angrily voiced its outrage at the accusation of antisemitism (a routine tactic whenever someone has the temerity to suggest that the far left is hostile to Jews qua Jews.) The party’s leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, visibly lost his temper when asked about the image during a television interview, bellowing the words “Enough is Enough!” at news anchor Francis Letellier.
Yet for all of Mélenchon’s protestations, this is exactly what we have come to expect from him. Mélenchon has ventured into antisemitism several times in his career. Random highlights include his 2013 statement accusing the then-Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, who is Jewish, of no longer “thinking in French but thinking in the language of international finance.” More recently, he leapt to the defense of his comrade Jeremy Corbyn, the antisemitic former leader of the British Labour Party, declaring that “Corbyn had to endure without help the crude accusation of antisemitism from the chief rabbi of England and the various Likud networks of influence.” He then added that Corbyn, “instead of fighting back, spent his time apologizing and giving pledges. (…) I will never give in to it for my part.”
Along with the various Islamist associations present in France, La France Insoumise has been a key transmitter of antisemitism in the wake of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, at the same time dismissing outright, much as Corbyn did in Britain, the concerns of the Jewish community. French President Emmanuel Macron alluded to this in a speech on April 2, when he presented an award on behalf of LICRA, a long-established French organization that combats racism and antisemitism. “The antisemitic poison consists of only one ingredient, hatred … a hatred born on the far right, which has prospered on the far right and has managed to spread beyond the far right,” Macron stated. “Today, unfortunately, it has reached certain ranks of the far left and the left, for whom anti-Zionism serves as an alibi for the expression of antisemitism.”
While these sentiments are laudable, the historical record shows that the far left has often trafficked in the hatred of Jews with the same enthusiasm as the Nazis and ultranationalists on the facing side of the horseshoe. As I wrote last year, anti-Zionism in our time has undergone a process of Nazification to the point where, in my view, we should remove the hyphen from this term to underline that what is presented as political opposition to the Zionist movement is more properly understood as a full-blown antisemitic conspiracy theory with the State of Israel at its core.
The unmistakable message delivered by the Paris march against racism, along with satellite marches in other French cities, was this: Jews are not allies; Jews fabricate claims of bigotry and discrimination against them; and Jews are guilty of perpetrating a “genocide” against Palestinians rooted in “Zionist ideology.” In the ultimate irony, the implication here is that to be a good anti-racist, it helps if you are an antisemite.
The post Against Racism, for Antisemitism: The Message of a March in Paris first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Vance Defends Trump’s Iran Policy Amid Outrage From Republican Isolationists
Then-US Senate candidate JD Vance, now the vice president of the United States, speaks as then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, now the president, smiles at a rally, in Dayton, Ohio, US, Nov. 7, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday issued a forceful defense of President Donald Trump’s approach to Iran amid its conflict with Israel, responding to what he called “crazy stuff on social media” and outlining the administration’s red lines on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
In a lengthy post on X/Twitter, Vance sought to clarify the administration’s position as the Iran-Israel war continues and speculation mounts over the possibility of the US using military force against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“POTUS [president of the US] has been amazingly consistent, over 10 years, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Vance wrote in his note. “He said repeatedly that this would happen one of two ways — the easy way or the ‘other’ way.””
Early Friday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Rising Lion, a multifaceted campaign involving airstrikes, covert sabotage by Mossad, and other operations targeting Iran’s missile infrastructure, military officials, and nuclear facilities and scientists. Israel launched the operation with the goal of dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities, which Israeli officials have declared an existential threat. Israel has continued its military campaign since then, striking nuclear and military targets.
Iran has responded each night with barrages of ballistic missiles, largely targeting Israeli civilian centers. Most of the projectiles have been intercepted by Israel’s missile defense system.
According to reports, the US may help Israel’s campaign by striking Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran’s Fordow site specifically is built deeply into the side of a mountain, and some experts believe Israel can’t destroy it completely without the help of massive US bunker-buster bombs.
The prospect of the US potentially entering the conflict has sparked outrage among many of members of the isolationist wing of the Republican party, who argue that Israel is attempting to lure America into a “forever war.” However, Israeli officials said on Tuesday they expect their operation to last only another week or two.
In his statement, Vance said that Trump had “encouraged his foreign policy team to reach a deal” with Iran to prevent further uranium enrichment. He also defended the administration’s current posture as restrained but firm.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, has reported that Iran continues to enrich uranium well beyond levels needed for civilian nuclear energy, raising alarm bells among experts and Western governments who believe Tehran is dangerously close to having weapons-grade nuclear material.
“It’s one thing to want civilian nuclear energy. It’s another thing to demand sophisticated enrichment capacity,” Vance said, accusing Tehran of violating its obligations under international non-proliferation agreements.
The IAEA, which monitors nuclear programs around the world, has warned in recent reports that Iran is enriching large quantities of uranium to 60 percent purity, just short of the roughly 90 percent needed for a nuclear weapon. Iran maintains that its program exists for civilian purposes. However, Tehran’s decision to restrict IAEA inspections and ramp up enrichment has intensified fears in Washington and among US allies that diplomacy may be running out of time.
While Vance insisted the president remains committed to diplomacy, he also appeared to leave the door open to a more aggressive posture, should talks continue to stall.
“He [Trump] may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment,” Vance said, adding that Trump’s focus is “protecting our troops and protecting our citizens.”
Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism about engaging in another war in the Middle East, arguing that previous US military interventions in the region proved costly, ineffective, and unpopular.
“People are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy,” Vance said.
Still, he argued that Trump deserves trust on the issue, describing the president as “only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people’s goals.”
The post Vance Defends Trump’s Iran Policy Amid Outrage From Republican Isolationists first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Columbia University Settles Antisemitism Lawsuit That Accused Faculty of Bullying Jewish Student
A pro-Palestinian protester holds a sign that reads, “Faculty for justice in Palestine,” during a protest urging Columbia University to cut ties with Israel, Nov. 15, 2023, in New York City. Photo: Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Columbia University has settled a lawsuit brought by a Jewish student at the School of Social Work (CSSW) who accused faculty of unrelenting antisemitic bullying and harassment.
Represented by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Mackenzie “Macky” Forrest sued the institution in February 2024, noting that Columbia was a hub for anti-Zionists on the far-left long before the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel revealed the extent of their presence on campus. In her own case, Forrest claimed that hatred forced her involuntary exit from the specialized program to which she had been accepted.
According to court documents, Forrest was abused by the faculty, one of whom callously denied her accommodations for sabbath observance and then held out the possibility of her attending class virtually during pro-Hamas protests which made the campus unsafe for Jewish students. Her Jewishness and requests for arrangements which would allow her to complete her assignments created what the Lawfare Project described as a “pretext” for targeting Forrest and conspiring to expel her from the program, a plan that involved fabricating stories with the aim of smearing her as insubordinate.
Meanwhile, school officials allegedly allowed pro-Hamas students and groups, most notably Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), to essentially commandeer the campus by making it a canvas for their extremist views, which they colored with antisemitic manifestos, graffiti, and blistering blood libels which rehashed antisemitic tropes that have been trafficked by antisemitic political movements since antiquity. As The Algemeiner reported at the time, students were also gang assaulted and lacerated, shocking acts of violence to which the university responded in part by blocking Jewish students from teaching one another methods of self-defense.
Soon, Forrest was accused of lacking commitment and seriousness for wanting to avoid the hostile campus environment which, critics say, Columbia fostered by waiting months to address antisemitism. Later, the contours of the conspiracy to force her out of school revealed itself in two phases, described in court documents as a threat to give her a failing mark for a “field placement” internship and repeatedly insinuating that her asking to attend class virtually represented a subconscious wish to drop out of school, which Forrester had never considered as an option.
“Macky had been receiving straight As, and in her weekly meetings with her supervisor, she was never told that she was not meeting expectations,” the lawsuit said. “Receiving a failing grade in her field placement would mean Macky would not be only unable to continue in the [program], but it would become part of her record and likely adversely affect her career going forward. This newly created issue about Macky’s performance in her field placement was all a pretext to create an excuse to kick Macky out of the [program].”
Spurious accusations were allegedly made by one professor, Andre Ivanoff, who was the first to tell Forrest that her sabbath observance was a “problem.” Ivanoff implied that she had failed to meet standards of “behavioral performance” while administrators spread rumors that she had declined to take on key assignments, according to court documents. This snowballed into a threat: Forrest was allegedly told that she could either take an “F” in the field placement or drop out, the only action that would prevent sullying her transcript with her failing grade.
Forrest left but has now settled the lawsuit she filed to get justice in terms that Columbia University has buried under a confidentiality agreement.
“We brought this lawsuit to hold Columbia accountable for what we alleged was a deeply troubling failure to protect a Jewish student from antisemitic discrimination and retaliation,” Lawfare Project litigation director Ziporah Reich said in a statement on Tuesday. “This case sends a clear message to universities across the country that when Jewish students report harassment and seek accommodations, their concerns must be taken seriously. The civil rights of Jewish students are simply not negotiable.”
Brooke Goldstein, Lawfare Project executive director and founder, added, “These outcomes reflect the power of legal action to bring about meaningful change. We are proud to stand behind a courageous student who chose to stand up for her rights. Our goal was never just justice for one student — it was to make clear that antisemitism has no place in higher education and that Jewish students have the same right to safety and dignity as anyone else.”
Columbia was one of the most hostile campuses for Jews employed by or enrolled in an institution of higher education. After Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the university produced several indelible examples of campus antisemitism, including a student who proclaimed that Zionist Jews deserve to be murdered and are lucky he is not doing so himself and administrative officials who, outraged at the notion that Jews organized to resist anti-Zionism, participated in a group chat in which each member took turns sharing antisemitic tropes that described Jews as privileged and grafting.
Amid these incidents, the university struggled to contain the anti-Zionist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which in late January committed an act of infrastructural sabotage by flooding the toilets of the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) with concrete. Numerous reports indicate the attack may have been the premeditated result of planning sessions which took place many months ago at an event held by Alpha Delta Phi (ADP) — a literary society, according to the Washington Free Beacon. During the event, the Free Beacon reported, ADP distributed literature dedicated to “aspiring revolutionaries” who wish to commit seditious acts. Additionally, a presentation was given in which complete instructions for the exact kind of attack which struck Columbia were shared with students.
The university is reportedly restructuring itself to comply with conditions for restoring $400 million in federal funding canceled by US Education Secretary Linda McMahon in March to punish the school’s alleged failure to quell “antisemitic violence and harassment.”
In March, the university issued a memo announcing that it acceded to key demands put forth by the Trump administration as prerequisites for releasing the funds — including a review of undergraduate admissions practices that allegedly discriminate against qualified Jewish applicants, the enforcement of an “anti-mask” policy that protesters have violated to avoid being identified by law enforcement, and enhancements to the university’s security protocols that would facilitate the restoration of order when the campus is disturbed by unauthorized demonstrations.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Bernie Sanders Pushes Bill to Block US Military Action Against Iran as New Poll Shows Public Support for Strikes
US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks to the media following a meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, US, July 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Monday night introduced legislation that would bar the use of federal funds for any US military force against Iran not authorized by Congress, despite new polling showing broad public support for both Israel’s ongoing strikes against the Iranian regime and US military action that is deemed necessary to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
The bill, titled the No War Against Iran Act, came after Israel last week launched a broad preemptive attack on Iran, targeting military installations and nuclear sites across the country in what officials described as an effort to neutralize an imminent nuclear threat. The Israeli military since then has continued to pummel Iranian targets, killing several nuclear scientists and military commanders while decimating much of the regime’s nuclear and military infrastructure.
Sanders called Israel’s campaign “reckless and illegal,” claiming it had the potential to kickstart a broader war in the Middle East. The legislation would prohibit the use of federal funds for any military force against Iran without explicit authorization from Congress, with a narrow exception for self-defense under the War Powers Act and applicable US law.
“[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s reckless and illegal attacks violate international law and risk igniting a regional war,” Sanders said in a statement. “Congress must make it clear that the United States will not be dragged into Netanyahu’s war of choice.”
Sanders continued, “Another war in the Middle East could cost countless lives, waste trillions more dollars and lead to even more deaths, more conflict, and more displacement. I will do everything that I can as a senator to defend the Constitution and prevent the US from being drawn into another war.”
Sanders was joined by seven Senate Democrats as original cosponsors, including Peter Welch (VT), Elizabeth Warren (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Chris Van Hollen (MD), Ed Markey (MA), Tammy Baldwin (WI), and Tina Smith (MN). The senator previously introduced a version of this bill in 2020 alongside then-Sens. Kamala Harris and Chuck Schumer.
Amid the Iran-Israel war, speculation has swirled over whether US President Donald Trump, who has expressed public support for the Israeli operation and authorized the military to help the Jewish state with air defense to combat Iranian missile barrages, will decide to use offensive military power against Iran to eliminate their nuclear facilities. Iran’s Fordow nuclear site specifically is built deeply into the side of a mountain, and some experts believe Israel can’t destroy it completely without the help of massive US bunker-buster bombs.
Trump on Tuesday publicly dismissed the prospect of a negotiated ceasefire before posting a message on social media that read “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” without elaborating. He also threatened to kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Despite Sanders’s insistence that the public disapproves of military action against Iran, polling indicates otherwise.
According to a new poll from GrayHouse Strategies, 89 percent of Americans are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, and 73 percent say Iran cannot be trusted to honor any diplomatic agreement. The poll also found that a strong majority of the American people, 72 percent, support direct US military action “if necessary to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.”
Meanwhile, 83 percent of Americans support Israel’s preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites, 79 percent favor the US sending offensive weapons to aid Israeli operations, and 91 percent support providing intelligence assistance to Israel, according to the poll.
Sanders’s proposed legislation came one day after Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced a War Powers Resolution to block any unauthorized US military action against Iran.
“It is not in our national security interest to get into a war with Iran unless that war is absolutely necessary to defend the United States,” Kaine said in a statement. “The American people have no interest in sending servicemembers to fight another forever war in the Middle East.”
Kaine’s resolution states that Congress possesses the sole authority to declare war against a foreign nation. It requires any US hostilities with Iran to be explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). Because the resolution is privileged, the Senate must consider and vote on it promptly, ensuring a congressional debate on the issue.
“This resolution will ensure that if we decide to place our nation’s men and women in uniform into harm’s way, we will have a debate and vote on it in Congress,” Kaine said.
On Tuesday, however, US Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), along with 14 co-sponsors, introduced a bipartisan resolution praising Israel’s strike on Iranian nuclear and military facilities and condemning Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks on Israeli civilian targets.
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