French politicians propose law to make modern antisemitism punishable

The law would make terrorist apologism, denying Israel's existence, and the comparison of Jews or Israel to the Holocaust illegal.

By MATHILDA HELLER OCTOBER 31, 2024 15:31

People attend a demonstration against anti-Semitism at the Place de la Bastille after three teenagers aged 12 to 13 were indicted in Courbevoie, accused of rape and anti-Semitic violence against a 12-year-old girl, in Paris, France, June 20, 2024. (photo credit: REUTERS/Johanna Geron)

Two French politicians have filed a bill aiming to make "renewed forms of antisemitism" illegal, Le Point reported on Wednesday.

The bill was brought by French MP for the Eighth constituency for French residents overseas, Caroline Yadan, and former Equality Minister and member of the National Assembly, Aurore Bergé. François Hollande also reportedly agreed to co-sign the bill.

The bill was also co-signed by 90 other deputies, and proposed a new law that would codify modern manifestations of antisemitism, including comparisons of Jews to Nazis, calls for the destruction of Israel, and the veneration of Hamas.

Yadan told Le Point that the bill stemmed from her desire to fight renewed forms of antisemitism, which manifests in three axes: terrorist apologism, denying Israel's existence or right to exist, and the comparison of Jews or Israel to the Holocaust.

Yadan said that she wants to make all rhetoric, such as "from the river to the sea," especially where maps of Israel have been replaced with Palestine, punishable by the law.

Pro-Palestinian poster hanging at the Northwestern University campus (credit: Northwestern Hillel)

"This, so that Rima Hassan can no longer consider Hamas a resistance group and go unpunished; or that one could no longer post a Nazi flag accompanied by a Star of David on one's social networks."

Rima Hassan, the French-Palestinian politician with La France Insoumise, previously propagated the false accusation that Israeli dogs rape Palestinian prisoners and called for "Zionists" to return organs stolen from Palestinians.

"It is this porosity of hatred that must be denounced," said Yadan. "Because it is what defines antisemitism in its current form, and it has been evolving for millennia."

Holding Israel to a different standard 

In her conversation with Le Point, Yadan drew upon the hypocrisy in the way in which Israel is held to a different standard to other countries.

This is codified in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism, which says that "applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation" is a form of antisemitism.

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It is also mentioned in the Three Ds of Antisemitism, which was developed by Natan Sharansky as a model for differentiating legitimate criticism of Israel from antisemitism. It argues that delegitimization, demonization, and double standards are the three tests for differentiating between the two.

An example of such a double standard could be the number of UN General Assembly human rights resolutions on Israel, as to other countries, as argued by figures such as UN Watch founder Hillel Neuer.

From 2015 through 2022, the UNGA adopted 140 resolutions on Israel and 68 on other countries. 

"No other state in the world is subjected to calls for its destruction or denial of its existence," said Yadan.

"Afghanistan or Iran are never called into question despite their repressive and totalitarian policies," she added.

Yadan said that her experience as a lawyer helped inform her development of the bill, saying she worked hard to draw up something that would not be punishable by the Constitutional Council.

"Without going into technical legal details, I wanted to address the issue of the comparison made between the Holocaust and Jews in Common Law." 

Difficulties could arise from amendment 

Yadan added that she realized such an amendment would pose difficulties, given many are attached to the laws around freedom of the press.

"The most feasible legal solution was to address this subject within the framework of the Gayssot Law and to add that contesting the Holocaust is punishable, even if it is presented in a covert or vague way, by way of insinuation or comparison, analogy or connection."

"As a result, comparing the State of Israel to the Nazi regime would be punished as an outrageous trivialization of the Holocaust."

The Gayssot Law, enacted in 1990, made it a criminal offense in France to question the existence or extent of the crimes of the Nazi party. This made it illegal in France to deny the Holocaust.

Yadan added that her proposal was not exactly new, as it had already been codified into French law. The sole new detail, she said, was the denial or call for the destruction of Israel.

She told Le Point that she did not think the France Insoumise party would vote for it.

However, Yadan said she was not "seeking the support of the LFI deputies because they are precisely an integral part of the problem [with antisemitism in France] due to their legitimization of hatred of Jews in our country under the cover of anti-Zionism."

She referenced the words of Vladimir Jankélévitch, "Anti-Zionism is simply justified antisemitism, finally made available to all. It is the permission to be democratically antisemitic."

Yadan's law was also supported by Sylvain Maillard, who supported the resolution to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.

However, according to Yadan, the "horrifying" state of antisemitism in France made it necessary to take this a step further, "we had to move to a new stage to fight against this hatred."