Macron’s Zigzags on Gaza: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

W

hen Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked Emmanuel Macron “Are you in a good mood?” during a casual conversation at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai, the French president replied, “I feel energetic.” He even ran to the podium as if to show how energetic he was. But everyone knows that Macron is not in a good mood.

While people of all religions and races from all over the world were demonstrating in the streets against Israel, the French president not only gave Tel Aviv his strong and unconditional support, but also came up with a brilliant solution that no one had thought of and proposed it during his visit to Israel: “The international coalition against Daesh can also fight against Hamas,” he proposed.

The French Foreign Ministry ignored the statement, a group of diplomats wrote a letter to the ministry marked confidential and reacted, the Élysée Palace issued a statement and tried to explain, but it was obvious that Macron thought of Daesh as soon as he saw the words Hamas, Jihad, and terrorism side by side!

The French president had thought that the whole world, including the Muslim countries, would side with Israel, which was committing massacres in Gaza, and fight as one against Hamas. Of course, this was beyond even Netanyahu’s imagination! In the post-truth era, the Israeli prime minister, who has been trying to manipulate the Western states that have been spreading “Islam equals terrorist” propaganda morning and night for decades, has been formulating “his war” with the same rhetoric since day one. But, as Netanyahu knows the world better than Macron, he stated, “This is Europe’s war. This is America’s war. If we don’t win now, you will be next.” And they came running—except for Spain.

Just a few months after his election in 2017, Macron was the first French president to declare that anti-Zionism is a form of anti-Semitism and described Netanyahu as a “friend.” Colonial France and colonial Israel once again appeared side by side in the same picture. Subsequently, since his first presidency, Macron has introduced the most Islamophobic legislation in Europe, leaving no breathing space for Muslims in a country occupied by cultural racist discourses.

After October 7, pro-Palestinian demonstrations, boycott campaigns against Israel, and anti-Israel protests were banned in Macron’s France, the country with the largest Muslim and Jewish populations in Europe. However, recruiting soldiers for Israel and raising money for the Israeli army in synagogues were not banned, and French-Israelis with dual passports who went to fight on the Israeli front were presented on television as “brave, courageous, and noble” people.

Macron has thus given Israel every opportunity to delegitimize its political enemies, directly or indirectly, to hide its occupation and massacres, and to present Israel to the French public as a “victim of radical Islamic fanaticism.” While members of the government and parliament engaged in all sorts of polemics with politicians from the radical left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party, which is the strongest opposition to Israel in the country, they did not react to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant’s description of Gazans as “human animals,” nor to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s religiously motivated horrific statement, which he made during a press conference on October 28, 2023. Netanyahu stated, “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. I Samuel 15:3-4 ‘Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass’.”

On the French news channel LCI, David Pujadas’s comments in favor of the Israeli position that if Hamas is a terrorist organization, then all Gazans are terrorists, were not a problem. But when the Israeli army spokesman was interviewed on TV 5, the French state channel, after the spokesman’s statement that “Hamas kills civilians,” the journalist Mohamed Kaci said, “You also kill civilians. Then, are you acting like Hamas?” to which the army spokesman fiercely replied, “These words are an attack on the state of Israel.” The journalist thanked him, ending the broadcast. Then, all hell broke loose: First, the channel issued a written statement declaring that Kaci “did not act in accordance with the rules of journalism” and “the organization deeply regrets” it. A day later, Kaci was fired.

Being critical of Israel and expressing anger against Israel have become a marginal choice in France. Taking a stand against Israel and publicizing the tragedy in Gaza have been left to social media platforms and media websites that are against the dominance of the mainstream media.

Obviously, these policies and practices are not in favor or in the best interest of either French Muslims or French Jews living in France today. In fact, as early as 2020, Turkish President Erdoğan suggested that the French president might have lost his mind, saying, “What else can one call a head of state who does not recognize freedom of faith and freedom of belief and who treats millions of people of different faiths living in his own country in such a way?”

A month later, on November 10, 2023, Macron did a U-turn. In an interview with the BBC this time, he attacked Israel directly. “Baby-killer,” he called Israel, the country he had called on the world to fight for two weeks earlier. “Children, women, and the elderly are being bombed and killed. There is no explanation for this and it is unacceptable.” The same evening, he made another U-turn. He called Israeli President Herzog and said he “does not have the intention and will not accuse Israel of deliberately harming civilians in its operation against the Hamas terrorist organization.” He added, “I unconditionally support the state of Israel and your right to defend yourselves.”

In a statement, the Israeli presidency said that during this apparently long apology meeting, Herzog reminded Macron of the offer he made two weeks before to form a coalition against Hamas like the one against Daesh. All this is of little consequence, though. After all, the French president made this offer two weeks before, and a few hours later, in Ramallah, he had said that “the life of a Palestinian is worth the life of a Frenchman, who is worth the life of an Israeli”!

Macron then embarked on a new move ahead of COP28: he wanted to bring together the leaders of the countries in the region, from Egypt to Jordan to Qatar, and hold a roundtable. He, in fact, mobilized two of his ministers for this organization. However, the roundtable did not take place and not even a statement of unavailability was issued by any of the parties mentioned.

According to newspaper reports, Macron, who was due to visit Saudi Arabia after COP28, “canceled his visit at the last minute because he had planned to meet Mohammed bin Salman in Dubai anyway.” Le Monde reported, “Since the Crown Prince canceled his visit to Dubai at the last minute, he was not able to meet him either. This picture at COP28 gives an idea of how difficult it will be for France to engage in dialogue with Arab leaders in the post-October 7 climate.”

No wonder President Erdoğan, the only NATO leader to openly say that Israel is committing war crimes, asked Macron, “How are you feeling?” President Macron, though, wasn’t content with just saying “I’m in good spirits” in response; he added, “We can work together on humanitarian issues.” This brief conversation with Erdoğan that was the only message about Israel-Gaza in the tweets from COP28.