Sharon's Advice to the Jews of France Is Wrong ... But He's Right There's a Problem

Andre Glucksmann, in the WSJ (July 22, 2004):

[Mr. Glucksmann is the author, most recently, of"Ouest Contre Ouest" (West Against West), published in Paris by Plon.]On Sunday, in Jerusalem, Ariel Sharon solemnly called on "our brothers in France [to] move to Israel, as soon as possible" to flee the "the wildest anti-Semitism there."

The Israeli prime minister is wrong, not so much to worry about a rise in anti-Semitism in France, but to speak in too simple terms that distort the problem. In incriminating, as he put it, "about 10% of the population," the 1/10th of France that's of North African origin, Mr. Sharon unduly uses the intifida model to explain the current wave of anti-Jewish violence. The French version is no less dangerous but more deeply rooted in Europe, and more contagious than Mr. Sharon imagines.

This 10% of Frenchmen who are of Muslim heritage are not monolithically violent Islamists in solidarity with the human bombs of Hamas -- far from it. The preachers and the thugs who seek to bring the intifada to France and beat up the Jew are a tiny minority among this famous 10% -- which is reassuring. But this tiny minority allies itself with other currents of anti-Semitism in Europe -- which is worrying.

A left-wing anti-Semitism rages on French campuses (and European, and American ones) that, under the pretext of anti-Zionism, turns the Palestinian into an emblematic figure. He replaces the proletarian from the recent past as a symbol of all the oppressed on the planet, spearhead of the struggle against imperialism, capitalism, globalization, and so on. For the funky rebels, "Arafat=Che Guevara." And vice-versa: "Sharon=Hitler." Out of this comes the delegitimization of a state that lets itself be ruled by a Nazi. Israel's right to exist is thus called into question by numerous academics, militant environmentalists, antiglobalization activists, or more simply by the paleo-Marxists searching in vain for the next revolution.

At the same time, a traditional anti-Semitism, shameful and repressed since the days of Vichy, Petain and the collaboration with the war-time occupation, is sneakily rearing its head again -- in particular within the old establishment and among French conservatives. A few slips here and there reveal that the Quai d'Orsay sees Israel as a weed planted in the heart of the "Arab world." One can recall the outburst of a French ambassador to London, Daniel Bernard, about that "shitty little country. . . . Why should we be in danger of World War III because of those people?" This former spokesman for Francois Mitterrand's foreign minister was cornered by the British press, but never apologized. His comments about that "shitty little country" were not considered "unacceptable," like Mr. Sharon's are today. Mr. Bernard finished his career as the French ambassador to Algeria, a choice posting, and a strategic one.

When Italy's Silvio Berlusconi offered out of nowhere to extend the European Union to Russia, Turkey and Israel, the French side answered: Why Israel? "There is no geographic link" (which is true), no link "neither historical nor cultural between Israel and Europe" (which is the height of voluntary ignorance). Those comments were apparently made in private by Dominique de Villepin, then the foreign minister, who neither confirmed nor denied the quotation. This reminds one of a famous joke: "Tomorrow we'll kill all the Jews and all the hairdressers." "Why the hairdressers?"

Paris would shed few tears were Israel to disappear, but that's difficult to realize because of the alliance between Washington and Jerusalem. Here, anti-Semitism, the hatred for "perfidious Albion" and anti-Americanism appeared long before Ariel Sharon, Tony Blair or a George Bush.

Sadly, the reality of the day is that these three potent ingredients -- the rogue Islamists, the rising global left and the traditional anti-Semitism of European conservatives -- are mixing together in a dangerous cocktail for the Jews....