Language:
English
Year of publication:
2012
Titel der Quelle:
Holocaust; studii şi cercetări
Angaben zur Quelle:
4,1 (2012) 175-189
Keywords:
Antisemitism History 1945-
;
Anti-Zionism
Abstract:
Within the French extreme Right, the divide between pro-Zionists and anti-Zionists is an old phenomenon; the pro-Zionism of some rightist intellectuals (e.g. Drumont, Céline, and Vallat) did not exclude their antisemitism. Since the 1960s the issues of Zionism, the Arab world, and attitudes toward both Jews and Muslims deeply divided the extreme Right camp. A turning point was the Suez crisis of 1956 and the loss of the colonial empire in North Africa in 1956-62, when Arab nationalists were supported by the communist bloc and Israel was seen as a staunchly pro-Western force. In the eyes of many rightists, the Israeli victory in 1967 seemed like revenge for the loss of Algeria. The split became even more conspicuous after 9/11. Now, the groups which aspire to become mainstream political parties, as well as most factions of the Front National, do not campaign on the issues of antisemitism or Holocaust denial, and have softened their anti-Israeli rhetoric; instead, they focus on critique of Islam and multiculturalism. The extreme Right, including outright neo-Nazis who prefer to remain on the fringe of the political spectrum, adhere to a sub-culture composed of conspiracy theories in which the Jews and Israel play a pivotal role. Their rhetoric includes such issues as anti-globalism, hence an anti-Western stance and support of the "Third World", manifested by support for militant Islamists; in their parlance, "Zionist" is often a code word for "Jewish".
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