French commentator Eric Zemmour has risen to political notoriety off the again of anti-Muslim hatred and anti-migrant incitement earlier than even formally saying his candidacy within the 2022 French presidential elections.
One current ballot positioned Zemmour at 16% – which might translate right into a second-round run off between him and present president Emmanuel Macron, knocking out far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
Zemmour sits firmly to the precise of his rival Le Pen. He has convictions for inciting racial hatred and is an open proponent of the “nice substitute” conspiracy concept. This implies white persons are being ethnically cleansed by Muslim migrants and Jewish puppet-masters, and has emerged because the ideological underpinning for assaults together with the Pittsburgh Synagogue capturing in 2018 and the Christchurch Mosques capturing in 2019.
Zemmour has made varied ahistorical feedback, together with that Vichy France, the regime that collaborated with the Nazis throughout the second world conflict, truly “protected French Jews”. He has additionally questioned the innocence of Alfred Dreyfus, who was falsely convicted for treason in a infamous instance of twentieth century antisemitism. His inventory in commerce has change into to provide oxygen to antisemitic conspiracy theorists.
It could due to this fact appear stunning that Zemmour is himself of Jewish heritage. He’s the descendent of Algerian Berber Jewish immigrants.
‘Double punishment’
Yonathan Arfi, vp of the Consultant Council of French Jews, describes all of it as a “double punishment. First, French Jews have to listen to the false narratives Zemmour espouses, then they need to take care of the truth that these phrases have come from somebody who’s recognized as coming from Jewish heritage himself – which provides a false air of legitimacy to the claims.
There are questions over how a lot Zemmour truly engages together with his Jewish id – however, as thinker Bernard-Henri Lévy argues, that has change into irrelevant. Regardless of rigorous criticism from the Jewish group, “what Mr Zemmour does, whether or not he likes it or not, [is] within the Jewish identify”.
The emergence of a Jewish far proper
Zemmour is just not the primary Jewish individual to interact with far-right politics, or to run for election. In federal elections in Germany this 12 months, for instance Marcel Goldhammer, vice-chairman of Jews within the Various for Germany – an organisation aligned with the far-right celebration – stood as a candidate representing a tiny however vocal assortment of radical-right German Jews.
Jewish individuals signal as much as far-right events for lots of the similar causes as the broader inhabitants. They could oppose immigration or be ultra-nationalist of their pondering. However the truth that these actions so usually thrive off the again of antisemitism and Holocaust revisionism makes Jewish involvement a puzzling hypocrisy.
Collective id concept helps clarify this puzzle. Sociologist David Snow notes that everybody carries a number of collective identities, a few of that are prioritised over others. That is what’s termed an “id salience hierarchy”. On this case, some Jews seem to have constructed collective identities which embody the far proper and prioritise political ideology over different facets of Jewish id.
Some purchase into intentionally skewed assertions that Muslim or migrant communities are the only real reason for rising antisemitism. As an alternative of combating far-right antisemites, they they’re espousing their ani-Islamic message.
Questionable alliances
Jean-Marie Le Pen, backing Zemmour over his personal daughter, mirrored that “the one distinction between Eric and me is that he’s Jewish. It’s troublesome to name him a Nazi or fascist. This offers him extra freedom”. Whether or not it’s Zemmour’s intention or not, he’s being introduced by the French excessive proper as a champion of their trigger. They’re completely clear that his Jewish id is a useful device to deflect accusations of racism.
In the midst of my analysis, I got here throughout a number of illustrative feedback on right-wing boards on 4chan’s politics boards, the place Zemmour was described as “100% /ourjew/”. One consumer praised Zemmour, who “regardless of being Jewish, appears to really love France”. One other added that he “recognises his Jewish id however he doesn’t let that cease him from talking out once more [sic] Jewish affect and mass immigration”.
Nevertheless, different extreme-right figures view Zemmour as a computer virus for Jewish management. To them, he’s residing affirmation of nice substitute conspiracy theories. Eric Striker a US-based alt-right propagandist (who’s broadly believed to be a persona) posted to his giant Telegram following that “Zemmour is hostile to French racial and Catholic-centred nationalism, is an open Jewish supremacist, and is utilizing throwing out some pink meat about ethnic decline to masks his precise coverage proposals, that are liberal, globalist, and Zionist neo-conservativism”. Regardless of makes an attempt to cosy as much as the far proper, Zemmour will nonetheless solely be seen by some as an immigrant and a Jew.
Overt Nazism is usually nonetheless seen as the one indicator of far-right sentiment. However a cautious public relations transformation is underway. Extremists equivalent to Zemmour have the capability to draw votes from parts of the voters who help his insurance policies, however don’t think about themselves to be fascists or racists. His id reassures them of this perception.
He has helped high-profile far-right figures of their quest to maneuver the Overton window, making it politically acceptable to espouse hateful views in mainstream politics. Whether or not Zemmour ever does actually find yourself making an electoral impression, the precedent is already being set. The strategic use of far-right philosemitism (a suspicious love of Jews based mostly on stereotypes) stays an pressing menace for Muslim and Jewish communities alike.
Hannah Rose receives funding from the Worldwide Centre for the Examine of Radicalisation, the place she is a Analysis Fellow. She additionally holds a fellowship on the Institute for Freedom of Religion and Safety in Europe, and is a trustee of the Union of Jewish College students.
