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Marine Le Pen courts French Jews as far left refuses to condemn Hamas
(www.politico.eu)
This is the best summary I could come up with:
PARIS — Given the antisemitic pedigree of France’s far-right National Rally, it is a remarkable turn of the political tides that party leader Marine Le Pen now sees a prime electoral opportunity in pledging to protect the country’s fearful Jewish community.
The moral vacillations of France’s hard left, which is refusing to describe Hamas as a terrorist organization, have horrified French Jews, just as they face a surge in antisemitic offenses, ranging from death threats to graffiti on Jewish shops.
She can seize on a clear anti-Islamist agenda, while the extreme left relies heavily on a support base in immigrant and Muslim communities, where a robust defense of Israel would play badly.
Supporting France’s Jews against antisemitism is probably less a play for votes from the world’s third biggest Jewish community than another major step by Le Pen to try to normalize the party and break from its toxic past.
“We have a weight around our necks due to the comments by Jean-Marie Le Pen and his allies,” said a National Rally MP, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive issues more candidly.
“Europe is not homogenous, in some countries, we’re worried about neo-Nazis on the right, but in France and Belgium, it’s Islamist movements that are at the root of antisemitism, they kill Jews because they are Jewish,” said Dahan from the CRIF.
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