180,000 people in France protest against anti-Semitism.

 

Protesters in Paris, lead by a French Prime Minster and two former Presidents. CBS News/Getty.

More than 180,000 turned up for protests across France against anti-Semitism in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. CBS News. Prime Minster Elisabeth Borne represented the center left while members of President Marcron's Renaissance party marched as well. Marine Le Pen represented the far right. However, the far-Left did not participate in the march with the leader of the France Unbowed party saying it would be a meeting of "friends of unconditional support for the massacre" in Gaza. France has the largest Jewish population in Europe but has had a long history of anti-Semitism, most notably in World War II with the collaborationist Vichy regime. 

My Comment:

This is a somewhat encouraging sign that most people in France are against the wave of anti-Semitism hitting the world right now. Regardless of the actions of Israel, which I feel are mostly justified by the actions of Hamas, it's not right to blame all Jews for the actions of the Israeli government. It's good to see that France is at least trying here. 

What is bizarre to me is that much of the article was bashing Marine Le Pen and her National Front Party. Unlike the far left, they actually showed up and denounced anti-Semitism. The party did have a history of not liking Jews but that is in the past now and they are doing the right thing now. Given that the far right does indeed have a problem with anti-Semitism, they should be getting praise for this, not being attacked for showing up.

You would think that the far left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who refused to participate in the march and said it was a celebration of a supposed "massacre" of Hamas, would be the one getting attacked in the media but apparently they get a pass because their politics are leftist. Indeed, the far left has always had a soft spot for Palestinian terrorists and their whole worldview forgives the actions of evil people as long as they are "oppressed". 

The elephant in the room is of course that France has imported millions of Muslims, many of which hate the Jews. Not all of them do but it is a very common thing. And I don't think this march will do a thing to convince them to not do so. 

Indeed, I am kind of amazed that this march ended so peacefully. I would have thought for sure that either Muslim extremists or the far left would have caused a fight but given the heavy police presence perhaps they were afraid to? Maybe they thought it would be bad optics for them? 

Regardless, it's crazy how bad things are going right now. Though I still think Israel has a lot of sympathy and people are sick and tired of anti-Israel protests, it's clear that the people that against Israel are really against Israel. They also don't make the distinction between Jews and the Israeli government. I am kind of amazed that there hasn't been more violence then there has been. I still expect a major terror attack to happen, just based on history.