It’s a French expression : "Plus ça change, plus ça reste la même chose".
2018 offered real promise of a more favourable view of Israel in France and constructive diplomatic engagement. But then came the Gazan “March of Return” and threw us back to 2014 when Israel was hammered for Gaza violence dominating summer TV screens. France’s Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, has now cancelled his trip to Israel, so a spectacular six-month exchange programme involving hundreds of events in both countries will be opened low-key without him.
Israel the “start-up nation” has been getting traction in France where entrepreneurial President Macron is modernising the country economically. Israel’s cyber security skills and anti-terrorism experience are appealing in France because of Islamic terrorism. The killing fields and destruction in Syria contrast with Israel’s stability. Changes in Saudi Arabia offer hope for regional peace.
The Palestinians meanwhile have hardly demonstrated readiness to manage an independent democratic state. The West Bank and Gaza are run by rival political factions with rival external sponsors. The Hamas charter still calls for Israel’s destruction. Fatah’s ageing leader Abbas has been spouting antisemitic mantras duly reported in France. No sign of elections.
Yet, there it is. Israel is accused. First for Gaza’s desperate economic situation and then for a massacre, a spontaneous and pacific demonstration of desperate young people transformed into a bloodbath. Israeli sharpshooters picking off innocent people far from the border fence with zero Israeli casualties. All because Donald Trump gave Jerusalem to the Jews. The split screen images of Gaza and Jerusalem on 14 May were devastating for America and Israel both.
Not all the media coverage was negative. Several newspapers carried op-ed pieces offering analysis and explanation. But the headlines overlooked the Hamas role in organising and the high proportion of Hamas operatives among Gazan casualties. Nor was the media disturbed by the potential for more dramatic consequences had the march succeeded in breaching the frontier and invading sovereign Israel. Gaza’s closed border with Egypt was mentioned but only incidentally. Hamas talking points were repeated ad nauseum and official Israeli information reported with scepticism.
But why was the reporting so lacking in nuance and analytical depth? Are journalists ignorant or lazy? Ideologically biased in favour of Palestinian nationalism and against “colonial” Israel? Commercially tempted by a media “show” charged with emotion, regardless of substance? A mouthpiece for France’s foreign policy for which the Middle East belongs to the Arabs?
Domestic policy also plays a role. France now boasts a sizeable Muslim population and anti-Zionism has become a feature left wing politics. The public is still nostalgic for the revolutionary spirit of May 1968, it tolerates violence on the margins of domestic demonstrations and is unable to imagine a genuine threat to France’s international border.
There may be something deeper. Many don’t want to take sides, but in the French sub-conscious modern Israel is an aberration. The Jewish State lacks solid roots because Jews were destined to be dispersed among the nations. Catholic France never studied the Old Testament. New Testament Palestine was run by Romans and its main actors have French not Hebrew names. Protestants are not significant players in France. Muslims rely on maps of Islamic conquest, so Jews in Israel are colonial thieves or interlopers.
Fortunately, the media are not all hostile. To mark Israel’s 70th anniversary, the weekly Le Point ran a cover story “The New Israel” that captured the energy and creativity of the modern state. L’Express published a 200-page thematic quarterly “1948-2018: Israel, one nation, one destiny” recognising the remarkable achievements of the country and identifying as its new frontier the “conquest of peace”. Amen.
"Reuven Levi" has been a Paris resident since 1981. He married in the United States and is father of three and grandfather of six. He is an active member of the Jewish Community
