France

French police suppress a demonstration in Paris in solidarity with the Palestinian people and against the Israeli assault on Gaza, October 14, 2023. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

France steps up crackdown on Palestine solidarity amid Gaza war

French authorities have banned demonstrations in support of Gaza, arrested protesters, and moved to dissolve several Palestine advocacy groups.

By Deborah Leter October 31, 2023

Tsedek! member Simon Assoun. (Courtesy)

For these French Jews, anti-racism cannot succeed without anti-Zionism

Facing a largely right-wing and Zionist French-Jewish community, Tsedek! is advocating a decolonial vision to combat state racism at home and in Israel-Palestine.

By Natasha Roth-Rowland August 14, 2023

Yael Lerer. (Rabeea Eid)

The Israeli bringing the fight for justice in Israel-Palestine to France’s parliament

After years in the Israeli radical left, Yael Lerer wants to replace a Netanyahu ally as the representative of French citizens in the eastern Mediterranean.

By Deborah Leter March 21, 2023

Latest

Salah Hammouri speaks to the press and supporters at Paris Charles de Galle Airport, France, after having been exiled by Israel, December 18, 2022. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Exile of Palestinian lawyer reignites struggle over France’s Israel policy

Israel's expulsion of Salah Hammouri has energized France's Palestine solidarity movement — but backlash is spurring antisemitism smears.

By Deborah Leter December 29, 2022

Salah Hammouri's mother (left), alongside Attorney Leah Tsemel (center) and Munir Nuseibeh (right), holds up a photo of him at an emergency press conference in Jerusalem, December 2, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

Expulsion of Palestinian Jerusalemite tests the waters for future deportations

Legal experts fear Israel's deportation of Salah Hammouri could set a precedent for similar moves against Palestinians holding foreign citizenship.

By Oren Ziv December 7, 2022

A rally in support of Israel, Marseille, France, July 27, 2014. (Alain Azria/CC BY 2.0)

Why are French Jews silent on the occupation?

In the world’s third largest Jewish community, a monopolistic establishment and a fraught discourse on antisemitism leaves no space for criticism of Israel.

By Deborah Leter August 3, 2022

Israeli security forces take position to protect Jewish visitors as they make their way to visit a Jewish religious site in the West Bank city of Hebron, November 3, 2018. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

Why are foreign lawmakers aiding Israel’s attacks on Palestinian rights?

Two resolutions passed by the French parliament and U.S. Congress last week have troubling implications for Palestinians and their allies.

By Amjad Iraqi December 13, 2019

Women activisits hold up signs during an action that attempts to dismantle a barbed wire part of the gate of the Seperation Wall in Bil'in, as part of the weekly protest against the Separation Wall and the occupation, West Bank, August 14, 2009. Hundreds of Palestinians, Israeli, and international activists, responded to the Popular Committee's call to resist to participate in the action. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

We cannot let France silence its humanist Jews

Jewish anti-occupation activist Olivia Zemor faces a lawsuit from a pro-Israel group after calling for celebrities to boycott Israel. Here’s why I’m going to France to testify on her behalf. By Udi Aloni This week I am traveling to Paris to serve as an expert witness in court. In an unprecedented move, the French government…

By +972 Magazine March 18, 2018

Supporters of French president-elect Emmanuel Macron celebrate outside the Louvre in Paris, May 7, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

We’ll always have Paris

While the French gave the world a lesson in hope, democracy and standing up to fascism, the Israeli government advanced a childish, nationalistic law that declares: we are Jews, they are Arabs, we’re good, they’re bad. By Alon Mizrahi Europe and the world expect us to defend the spirit of the Enlightenment, under threat in…

By +972 Magazine May 8, 2017

La Pen and Macron posters in France. (Marion Sindel)

Two bad choices for leftists in France

The hope of having a presidential candidate who advocates for genuine change vanished on Sunday, and reality slapped us in the face. We now have to choose between a cheery capitalist and a fascist with a shark’s smile. By Maxime Benatouil PARIS — Some traditions are meant to be kept intact. In spite of technological…

By +972 Magazine April 26, 2017

Illustrative photo of a woman in a burkini. (bellmon1/CC BY-NC 2.0)

Liberal Europe doesn’t understand: The burkini is a feminist issue

By banning the burkini, the French view themselves as the ones liberating veiled women from Muslim patriarchy. Instead they are only imposing a different form of oppression. By Eiad Shalabne The images of French policemen handing out tickets to Muslim women in religious garb on the beaches of Nice this past week reflect a depressing interpretation of the essence of…

By +972 Magazine August 26, 2016

Imprisoned PLO leader Marwan Barghouti (SP Foto/CC BY NC-ND 2.0)

Marwan Barghouti is planning a comeback — from behind bars

He may be serving five consecutive life sentences in an Israeli prison but Marwan Barghouti is the only leader who has a chance to succeed Mahmoud Abbas and unite the Palestinian people. This is how he plans on doing it.

By Menachem Klein April 16, 2016

French soldiers capture FLN fighters in Algeria, 1958. (Author unknown)

No, Mr. Netanyahu, answers to terrorism are not all the same

The prime minister compares Israel’s predicament with the Palestinians to France’s current one with jihadists, but the true comparison is to France’s struggle with Algeria in the 1950s and early 1960s. In Paris early this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drove home a message he’s been delivering for decades: “Israel supports Europe in its fight…

By Larry Derfner January 16, 2015