France’s Jews mull the unthinkable: voting for a party with an anti-Semitic past
The National Rally has long been radioactive to Jewish voters and much of the French electorate. But outreach by Marine Le Pen and anger with left-wing parties over Israel has created a dilemma.
By matthew dalton and noemie bisserbe,

From Dow Jones
June 22, 2024
5 minute read
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Serge Klarsfeld is a world-renowned Nazi hunter, a historian of the Holocaust and a moral authority in France who has pushed the country to reckon with its dark history of anti-Semitism.
That is why many in France were shocked this week when Klarsfeld defended the far-right party of Marine Le Pen, which counts among its founders a former Nazi paramilitary soldier. Klarsfeld, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor, said the main threat to France’s Jews now comes from the far left and that he wouldn’t hesitate to vote for Le Pen’s party, the National Rally, in the coming parliamentary elections if the alternative were a coalition of leftist parties, the New Popular Front.

“The National Rally supports Jews, supports the state of Israel,” Klarsfeld said on national television. “When there is an anti-Jewish party and a pro-Jewish party, I will vote for the pro-Jewish party.” Klarsfeld’s comments are the fruit of a rapprochement between French Jews and the far right that is reordering French politics and helping push the National Rally to the doorstep of power. The National Rally’s anti-Semitic past long made it radioactive to Jewish voters and much of the French electorate; the party’s founder, Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie, was convicted of anti-Semitism several times for calling the Nazi gas chambers a “detail” of World War II history.
Now the taboo is fading. The National Rally’s outreach to French Jews, particularly in the aftermath of the October 7 attack in Israel, has solidified the party’s place in the mainstream of French politics, helping put it on track to win the most seats in the parliamentary elections, which conclude next month. French President Emmanuel Macron called for snap parliamentary elections after the National Rally trounced his centrist party in European elections this month. Polls show the National Rally leading in the first round of the French elections set for June 30, followed by the New Popular Front.

It is unclear whether the candidates of the National Rally will have enough support to win an outright majority in the National Assembly after the second round of the elections on July 7.
The Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas and the ensuing Israeli offensive in Gaza have had a profound impact in France, deepening political divisions in the home to Europe’s largest Jewish community and one of its largest Muslim communities. Leaders of the far-left party France Unbowed didn’t immediately condemn the attack and then stridently criticised Israel. Jewish groups and Macron’s government say the party’s rhetoric has fuelled a surge in antisemitism in France since Oct. 7.

Those fears were amplified by the alleged assault and rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl last weekend in Courbevoie, a suburb of Paris. French authorities brought preliminary charges against three adolescents for the crime.
The National Rally has seized the moment to attack the far left and make the case to the public that it has renounced antisemitism. Jordan Bardella, the party’s president, participated in a march against anti-Semitism after the attack and has strongly defended Israel.

“It provided a chance for the National Rally to redeem itself,” said Olivier Costa, a research professor at Paris-based Sciences Po university and France’s National Center for Scientific Research. The National Rally’s anti-Muslim rhetoric also resonates with part of the conservative Jewish electorate, he added.

Huge win for union and drivers!

I have long held that one of the greatest destroyer of jobs in Australia, at least since the 60’s, has been the union movement which has consistently demanded businesses make bad decisions to accommodate the promises they make their members but which ultimately make the business untenable.

This is not to let government off the hook, which has imposed rules and regulations either for column inches that appease the vanity of one politician after another and has also allowed itself to be manipulated by activists, socialists, and enviroloons who have the hubristic chutzpah to think everyone else is getting it wrong and we must change society according to some utopia based on the most recent books they have read – but who have never run a business, cured a sick person, built anything, created anything people would buy, or fought off an enemy on behalf of someone else.

BoM radar page for Terrey Hills was down yesterday .. Back up now but the map has no names/features marked on it just a coastline/ocean separation so you’re left to guess where you are located .. LOL!

Really? Except the tootsies decide on the who enters that sea corridor.

JC, learn the meaning of per se.

Per se it is then.

Per se isn’t really a term that should be used (as well as mind reading) what their plan of action is after the Israeli war on terror.
I very much doubt that water lane will be in free use even over the long term.

dover0beach

June 22, 2024 2:32 pm

The Iranian attempt to build a nuke bomb is just a harmless Year 12 science experiment is it, and its not to dominate neighborhood etc?

Having nukes won’t change that calculation.

In this case it would.

Remember the Iranian regime has a stated goal of wiping Israel off the map and think all the Jews concentrated in a small area is just dandy.

You really think they’d just sit on ’em?

As many will have noted, I am a great fan of the US historian/ social commentator, Victor Davis Hanson. I regularly follow his sub stack. Here are some of his recent examples of the changes in the USA and his assessment of them:

We are returning to tribalism  
Middle class disappearing
Permanent non elected bureaucracy growing
Coastal elites love the international bureaucrats
12 yrs of decline of real wages in USA
Squeezing of the middle class
2.1>1.7 decline in fertility rate
Lotus-eater narcissism 
Young men wont get a job, marry etc
You cant use mainstream media to change anything – only online
Things are changing very rapidly – especially because of Ukraine
50 million illegals in USA
Inflation soaring – a $7 sheet of plywood 4X8 is now $55
Ports disfunctional in California – looting of cargo 
No interest in money in bank
Chaos in USA
You cannot sit on the sidelines 

The rhetoric is mixed and even if you set that aside, they themselves have to deal with the reality of a reply, which they’re well aware off.

The rhetoric isn’t “mixed” in the least. The mullahs have been very clear. They desire Israel is “wiped off the map”.

How do you know what ball game they’re playing? The mullahs can very well think that killing off all the Israelis (wipe Israel off the map) is worth it – even if they lose 1/2 or more their population (40 million). You have no basis to make any sort of calculation with nut-balls. You don’t know their premise.

Moreover, it would incite these loons to be even more aggressive with the use of proxies as they feel protected with nuclear warheads. You’re just making it up as you go along.

How do you know what ball game they’re playing? The mullahs can very well think that killing off all the Israelis (wipe Israel off the map) is worth it – even if they lose 1/2 or more their population (40 million). 

I would have agreed with this, were it not for the restraint of Iran after their greatest living hero – Qaseem Suleimani – was summarily executed by targeted missile by the USA some years ago. I fully expected a huge reprisal, but I don’t recall anything of the magnitude that one would expect.

Many of us have lost interest and/or stopped reading about “the space race”. This is (for me) an amazing article on private industry in space exploration.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2024/06/the-space-race-gets-serious/?

Inbreeding by Country / Consanguinuity by Country 2024 (worldpopulationreview.com)

On the current Ukraine situation as some 800,000 Russian troops dig in & Ukraine runs low on munitions – observations of defence analyst Colonel Douglas MacGregor :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2YDyEFfb2s

I’m not sure why people here think any of these countries care what any of us thinks in regards to their interests.

So what? I can’t imagine anyone has ever believed that any opinion thrown on here would be of interest to anyone in these countries.

I very much doubt Xi, Un, Vlad or any of the Mullahs wake up every morning and run to their Ipad to see what is the latest opinion on Catallaxy.

Who here believes otherwise, or is this another mindreading exercise?

The point I was making is saying there are no benefits to Iran having nukes is beside the point from the point of view of the Iranians. We aren’t giving them the technology, the capability, and they’re not acquiring it as a favour to us.

There are obvious benefits for Iran to have nuclear weapons, or at least they perceive there to be. For instance, they can cause more problems with their proxy wars and hide behind the threat of nuclear retaliation. They can also bully their neighbors and could eventually threaten continental Europe.

The problem with your view is that we don’t know what their risk tolerance is, which I highlighted earlier. However, more nuclear-armed dictatorships are not a positive as they increase risk. This is something you’re not prepared to accept and dismiss with a wave of the hand. In fact, I’d argue that, having read a lot of what you’ve said, you actually support the idea of Iran gaining nukes. I don’t know why, but it would be worth it if, at some stage, you elaborated on this view.

The rhetoric is mixed over the years and Iran isn’t going to wipe Israel off the map with nukes and in doing so wipe the Palestinians off the map in doing so.

Indeed.

We can see how much of a flying their proxy, hamas, gives for their fellow “Palistinians”.

Petulant outburst’: Dutton hits back at KeatingRhiannon Down
Peter Dutton has hit back at former prime minister Paul Keating’s attack on his nuclear energy policy, labelling his remarks as a “petulant outburst” which further undermines the national interest.
The Opposition Leader declared there was no hope of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 without nuclear power, adding that it was sad to witness Mr Keating’s “fall from grace”.
Mr Dutton said Mr Keating’s criticism that his nuclear policy was merely a bid to “camouflage his long held denialism in an industrial fantasy” and utilised the “most lethal technology of another age”, was unfortunate in the same vein as his “ramblings on international affairs”.
“There is zero chance of reaching net zero by 2050 without zero-emission nuclear power. Mr Keating should know this,” he said.
“Under Labor’s ‘renewables only’ approach, it will cost $1.3 trillion to rewire our nation. If you think you’re paying a lot now, wait until these costs are reflected in your energy bills.
“I’ll stand up for Australian families and small businesses for cheaper, cleaner, and consistent power.
“Mr Keating can continue to be a sad and despondent character, doing Mr Albanese’s bidding, while Australian families suffer under Labor’s energy trainwreck.”
Mr Dutton invoked former Labor prime minister Bob Hawkes’ words from 2016 when he praised the merits of nuclear power in tackling global warming, and Mr Keating’s history of spouting colourful takes on politics, including China, since leaving office.
“Even Prime Minister Albanese acknowledged that Mr Keating’s recent ramblings on international affairs were ‘unfortunate’,” he said.
“Mr Keating’s statement today is no different.
“This petulant outburst from a man who criticises AUKUS just undermines our national interest.
“If only we had Labor leaders like the late great Bob Hawke who embraced nuclear power as being ‘a win for the environment and an essential part of the attacking that must be made on this grievous and dangerous global warming. It would be a win for the global environment and a win for Australia’.”