It is an ominous sign of the times that religious affiliations of the electorate are being used by political parties to lure voters and capture power. Not only in India, this is frighteningly and obnoxiously becoming a global phenomenon. But, its manifestation in the most outrageous form in a liberal country such as France, which will hold its parliamentary election in two rounds on 30 June and 7 July, has caused shockwaves. What is more concerning is that both the Far Right outfit Rassemblement National (RN) and Left parties are being charged with fanning anti-Semitic hatred to reap electoral gains. Economic issues that directly concern the French population have been put in the backburner and the Israel-Hamas conflict, triggered by the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas, is dictating the electoral agenda. The Far Right is seeking to cash in on anti-Semitism that forms the core of the pro-Nazi outfit’s political agenda, masking it behind its pseudo-nationalism. The Left is trying to garner votes by espousing the cause of Palestinians. France has a large Jewish and Moslem population. In recent times the narrative has shifted fast, with pro-Palestine and the Moslem population gaining massive sympathy in the wake of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
In this backdrop, the alleged gang-rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in northern France has triggered outcry over surging anti-Semitism in the country, a key issue in the parliamentary elections. Politicians from all sides have condemned the alleged attack, with President Emmanuel Macron calling the “scourge of anti-Semitism” festering in French schools. Far Right leaders are holding the Left responsible for the incident for the latter’s ‘failure’ to take anti-Semitism seriously enough. The Nanterre prosecutor’s office has begun an inquiry into the alleged aggravated rape of a minor, after receiving “reports from a 12-year-old girl” of the incident recently. Three boys, aged 12 and 13, have been taken into custody. Whether the girl was targeted for her religion is part of the probe. Two of the boys are being investigated for aggravated gang-rape of a minor, group violence against a minor for reasons of religion, death threats and insult for reasons of religion, according to the prosecutor’s statement. The attack took place as the girl tried to return home after meeting a friend. Two boys approached her and attempted to block her path outside her house. After a third boy arrived, the group began to physically attack the girl, hurling anti-Semitic insults at her. The girl received several death threats and one of the boys reportedly called her a “dirty Jew.”
Anti-Semitic incidents have increased by 284 per cent in France between 2022 and 2023, according to data from the French Interior Ministry. In 2023, anti-Semitic acts constituted 60 per cent of all anti-religious acts, compared to 26 per cent in 2022, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
The incident has sparked an intense political debate on what politicians have described as a spiraling anti-Semitism problem in France linked to Israel’s war in Gaza. With just a week to go before the elections in which the Far Right is expected to emerge victorious for the first time in its history, poll campaign has degenerated into controversies on anti-Semitism.
The leadership of the RN is euphoric after its recent victory in the European elections that forced the French President to dissolve the parliament and hold fresh elections. It is the new avatar of the Front National, co-founded by a former member of the Nazi party and Jean-Marie Le Pen, a convicted anti-Semite who had the gumption to deny the Holocaust’s gas chambers. Its current leader Marine Le Pen, who is to be its presidential candidate, said the recent surge in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war reveals a worrying stigmatization of Jewish people which everyone should be fully aware of while casting their votes. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal also got involved in the blame game and accused his Left-wing political opponent, Jean-Luc Melenchon, of downplaying the severity of anti-Semitism in France by terming it a residual issue. Melenchon, of course, said he was horrified by this rape, which has put under the spotlight “the conditioning of criminal male behavior from a young age and anti-Semitic racism.”
The poll results will soon show both the extent of the rise of the Far Right in France and also how acute are the religious sentiments going to influence the voters for choosing their future political administrators.