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Violence against Jews at French anti-war rally

As for citation, I have a citation for a violent anti-war rally in France, in which people were physiclly attacked and beaten up. Since two of the victims were Jews, the affair made headlines in Israel 18/04/2003 (Hebrew). I found also some reports in English on this incident: [1]. Also appears in the Hebrew article is the practice or burning flags (mainly of Israel) in (French) anti-war rallies - which is described by Aurélie Filipetti (a French Green Party member) as violent and antisemitic. She also states that she witnessed a violent anti-war rally, I translated from the article:

Filipetti honored the decision, and not carried the two flags { of Israel and Palestinian -MK }, but like all the participants in the rally she saw around her countless flags of Iraq and Palestine. "It was a violent event" she recalls "I said to myself that if I would carry the flags of Israel and Palestinian, I then would face some serious troubles {word-to-word translation of the last expression would be 'noy few (but many) problems' - MK} ."

Also to note that slogans like "Bush and Blair are Nazies" is considered (by me, at least, but I believe also widely) as hate speech. MathKnight 09:45, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Fair enough - but one throwaway line isn't instrumental in accurately representing the anti-war movement generally; or left-wingers generally. I think that such a quote, properly cited, would belong in an article dealing with the specific individuals making the claims.Lacrimosus 11:56, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

MathKnight, are you alleging that the violent demonstrators were leftists rather than Islamicists or simply Palestinian nationalists? I can't read Hebrew, but nothing in the English-language citation seems to bear this out. Violence against Jews by either Islamicists or Palestinian nationalists is certainly a non-trivial matter, but hardly one with obvious relevance to an article on left-wing politics. If there is somewhere you are going with this, you are going to have to write it up and expect to take your licks if you can't justify why it's in this article.

All I'm saying that the attack took place on an anti-war demonstration in which also classical leftists (such as the green party of France) participated. It is possible that the attackers themselves were Muslims, but it took place not in an Muslims-only protest. Note than in France, unlike in the USA, there is a large minority of Muslims and Arab (about 6-10 millions out of 60), so almost every anti-war protest have noteable attendance by Muslims. I'll try to translate the entire article. MathKnight 17:40, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Meanwhile, I hope we can agree that the section as I've rewritten it is NPOV. Like anything in Wikipedia, it can be added to, and those additions will be judged on their own merits. -- Jmabel 16:48, Aug 15, 2004 (UTC)

You can confive NPOV dispute only to "criticism". MathKnight 17:40, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Translation of the article from Maariv

The orginal article may be found here: http://www.nrg.co.il/online/archive/ART/466/162.html

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The left wing protests in France against the war in Iraq became anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist events

Sefi Handler, Paris , 18/04/03

Aurélie Filipetti { hencforth I will refer to her as A.F. -MK} felt bad. The brutal attack that two teemagers, member of Hashomer Hatzair, have suffered in a demonstration in Paris against the war in Iraq, made her wonder for exactly which "peace" she is demonstrating.

Aurélie Filipetti (A.F.) , a spokeswoman of the Green Party in Paris, was among the organiziers of the demonstration, in which its fringes Jews were beaten only because they wore kippot (skull caps). She is 30 year old, French from Italian dynesty, not a Jewish. Niether anti-semitic. She is a left wing activists who thinks the state of Israel has a right to exists. This loaded combination have turned the young Parisian to a focus of political-idealogical public controversy, which exposes a lot more than the intellectual integrity of those who arose it. Almost forced by events, the honest spokeswoman of the Green Party to an exception which tesitify over the general common: a growing camp inside European left, which loves itself as equally as it loves to hate Israel.

After the attack against the Jewish teenager, who were in their way to their activity center in east Paris and walked accross the "peace" protest, A.F. decided to send some messages as food for though in the party's internet discussion board. The French left did condamned the attack, beside of the rally's organizers, which claimed it was a provocation of Betar activists.

A.F. asked to touch the truely sensetive points. "I felt we should stop puting our head in the sand, to say that these are only fringes effects and therefore 'not of our concern', to condamn and do nothing more." In the message she posted in the disscussion board she asked the participants why they allow a demonstration against the war in Iraq ( A.F. opposes the war ) to turn into an event in which the main theme is Palestine. She also asked if this has a connection to the attack on the Jewish youth during the rally. "I wrote that according to that logic\reason\sense , we can protest with Chechnya's flags, or Tibet's , but we {somehow -MK} choose to focus only in Israel and Sharon.

This uninnocent question, of a woman from the hardcore of the "enlightened left" touched the most sensetive nerves of the French "Peace camp". A.F. got tons of answers, most of them are hostile. "They explained to me that the slogan 'Bush Sharon are murderers' is not antisemitism but anti-Zionism. But for me, when you burn the flag of Israel (a common sight in anti-war rallies in france -Sefi Handler) it is antisemitism. The meaning is the delegitmation of Israel's right to exist."

Every left wing politician who cares about his chair and status, would mute after the wave of responses and would not turn against the pratice of burning Israel's flags. But A.F. decided to jump into the "lion's mouth" of anti-Zionism and held solidarity visit in Hashomer Hatzair center in Paris. In this visit "she'd gone to far" and made a commitment to carry the flag of Israel and the flag of Palestine together in the next anti-war rally in the Bastile square.

When it was publish in Le Mond, France's most important newspaper, A.F. became a focus for unsacred wrath for many of her colleagues. "They stormed over me" she tells in an interview to Maariv. "I have recieved many enraged phone calls. They told me 'what is wrong with you?'. A senior member in the party told me that 'you can't carry a blood stained flag' i.e. the flag of Israel. Other explained to me it is the 'Sabra and Shattila flag'. There were also some who conveyed me a message that should I dare to appear with the flag of Israel in the protest 'ten people will come and break your face'. I have insisted that is merely a symbol of our commitment to Israel's right to exist."

The leadership of the Green Party in Paris, gathered urgently to discuss the two-flags issue and found an hypocritical solution to the hot problem. The Green Party declare they are "not a national party" and therefore none of its representives is allowed to carry national flags.

Filipetti honored the decision, and not carried the two flags { of Israel and Palestinian -MK }, but like all the participants in the rally she saw around her countless flags of Iraq and Palestine. "It was a violent event" she recalls "I said to myself that if I would carry the flags of Israel and Palestinian, I then would face some serious troubles {word-to-word translation of the last expression would be 'noy few (but many) problems' - MK} ."

Parallel to the confrontation over the flags, A.F. published an article in the left-oriented French newspaper "Libersion" in which she warned from the antisemitism that plauging its camp. An article, which only few, if any, in the European left would dare to write.

It is easy to the French left to protest against Le Pen, it is harder for it to admit that it let "its protestors to carry slogans that have nothing in common for the Palestinian's legitimate rights. There were slogan of those who were facisinated from the Palestinian suicide bombers' death dance" she wrote. "The French left must to recognize that while it developed the distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, it acted as an ostrich and not fulfilled its duty: to think reasonbly. The refusal of the left to be questioned about it, and worse - to question itself about it, played to the hand of antisemitism."

"Zionism is Israel's right to exist. Period. The fact that Sharon gives Zionism an imperialist and colonialist definition not put in doubt the legitimicy and neccisity of the state of Israel. We support the legitmate struggle of the Palestinian for their rights, for their state and for liberating the occupied territories, and we oppose Ariel Sharon's brutal policy. Therefore, because of all this, we should not agree that this struggle will loose its dignity through barbaric acts that sums up in one word: antisemitism."

The article became the talk of the day among Jews, politicians, protestors and everybody else. "I felt they didn't read my article, but only one word from it: 'Zionism', and because of it I'm being scurned like a witch on the stake", she sums. Week and a half ago, during a meeting of the regional bureo of the party, she got intidada in home. "Do you understand you offended people by using that word (Zionism)?" one of the members slammed at her. Aurélie Filipetti do not regret, even for a moment. "Even if I had to pay political price, since I am a pro-Palestiniam Zionist." She sums with a sad smile.

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The rest of the article deals with Jewish reaction of French Jews and Zionists to the anti-Zionist atmosphere in France, and campaign they are having to try to decrease hatred toward them. I didn't translated it since it is less relevant to the issue. If you want, ask me and I will translate it also.

More over, there is a reference to an article written by Aurélie Filipetti in "Libersion", I would be happy if French wikipedians will manage to find this article ans translate it, and olso will convet their point of few regarding the whole issue and the Maariv's article.

MathKnight 18:38, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I would guess that "Libersion" is Liberation, the leading French leftist daily newspaper. -- Jmabel 19:15, Aug 15, 2004 (UTC)

This is certainly interesting with reference to the the French left, and the politics of Zionism and of antisemitism, and several other things, and something about this belongs somewhere in Wikipedia. I'm not sure whether or not this article is where this belongs, or just how to work it appropriately into the article. MathKnight, do you have something specific you want to do here? I suspect that if it belongs in this article, it belongs less in the discussion of the peace movement than a separate section dealing with contemporary attitudes of the French left (or even the European left, if you can document similar cases elsewhere) towards Jews and Zionism. -- Jmabel 18:55, Aug 15, 2004 (UTC)

It is a reference on anti-war rallies in Europe (this article speaks specificly on France). The relevant points of this article to this bussiness are:

• Iraq and Palestine flags are common in Anti-war rallies in France.
• Such rallies often "hijacked" to become anti-Israeli or anti-western rallies.
• There cases of violence in those rally, triggered by the hatred-inspiring atmoshpere in the rally (such as burning flags and inflammatory slogans).
• The disturbing relationship between left-wingers and radical Muslims.

Most of your worked focused on the American left and anti-war groups (ANSWER, NION and UFPJ) while pputing aside the European left and anti-war groups (such as Stop the War Coalition and George Galloway.

MathKnight 14:41, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)