After sixteen Saturday demonstrations by the "yellow vests," who began in November by protesting French President Emmanuel Macron's increase in fuel prices, the controversy seems to have taken a darker turn. Pictured: "Yellow vest" protestors near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 2, 2019.
After sixteen Saturday demonstrations by the "
yellow vests," who began in November by protesting French President Emmanuel Macron's increase in fuel prices, the controversy seems to have taken a darker turn.
That seems to have come to light on February 13, when a small group of demonstrators started hurling
insults at a French Jewish philosopher, Alain Finkielkraut -- who was born in and lives in Paris -- after they spotted him on a sidewalk. One man, shouted, "Shut up, dirty Zionist sh*t," "Go home to Tel Aviv," "France is ours," "God will punish you." A cameraman filmed the incident, then shared the
video on social networks. A scandal ensued. The "yellow vests" movement as a whole was immediately
accused by the French government of anti-Semitism and "fascism".
Finkielkraut claimed that he had not been attacked as a Jew, but as a supporter of the State of Israel. He then added that the man who had insulted him did not speak like a "yellow vest" and that the words "God will punish you" is an expression from "Islamic rhetoric". Police who watched the video identified the man as a radicalized Muslim, and the next day arrested him.
In the days leading up to that incident, several anti-Semitic acts had taken place in and near Paris. The German word "
juden" [Jews] was
painted on the front of a Jewish bakery; swastikas were
drawn with a black marker on portraits of former Jewish minister Simone Veil;
trees that had been planted in memory of Ilan Halimi, a young Jew who had been kidnapped, tortured and murdered in 2006, were destroyed. Investigations have begun but nothing so far has shown any relationship between the "yellow vests" movement and any of these anti-Semitic acts. The French government nevertheless continues
accusing the "yellow vests" of being at least partly to blame.
Comment: Italy has shown itself to be the one of the few forward-thinking countries in Europe that is willing to break away from the entrenched and erroneous 'establishment' for the good of its people:
- Friendly relations with Russia and anti-austerity: Why the West is interfering in Italy's democracy
- Italian port of Trieste aiming to be China's primary entry into Europe
- EU trying to "swindle" UK out of Brexit, May should pull out of talks without deal - Italian minister Salvini
- Salvini backs Yellow Vest protests, lashes out at Macron as a 'president against his people'
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