However, the analysis of the results shows that certain population groups are very susceptible to anti-Semitic prejudice. Men and French people over the age of 65 are overall more inclined to harbour prejudices against Jews – all population groups that are otherwise more susceptible to racist and homophobic ideas. The prevalence of anti-Semitic prejudice is also more widespread on the far left and far right. For example, the statement that “the Jews have too much power in the economic and financial spheres” is shared by 33% of respondents in the electorate of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and by 34% of those close to the La France insoumise party, as well as by 39% in the electorate of Marine Le Pen and by 33% of those close to the Rassemblement National party, compared to 26% in the population as a whole. However, there is an important development: Among La France insoumise supporters, agreement with the idea that “the Jews have too much power in the economic and financial spheres” is at the same level in 2021 (34%) as we measured in 2014 (33%), while this idea declines significantly among Rassemblement National supporters, from 50% in 2014 to 33% in 20211.
Hatred of Israel is widely seen as the main source of anti-Semitism. However, the accusation of “double loyalty”, which is that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to France, is more likely to be seen as a legitimate criticism (39%). There are as many French people who consider it legitimate to accuse Jews of being responsible for Israel’s policies (33%) as there are French people who consider this to be an anti-Semitic opinion (34%) or French people who are not sure (33%), which testifies to the difficulties of grasping the phenomenon of this “new anti-Semitism” in the context of hatred of Israel, the causes of which are indeed complex.
Furthermore, it is worth highlighting that 49% of French people have a positive image of Israel (compared to 22% who have a negative image), with the notable exception of those close to La France insoumise, who are significantly more likely than average to have a negative image of Israel (38%, while 37% of respondents close to La France insoumise say they have a positive image of Israel). 30% of La France insoumise voters (compared to 16% of French people overall) believe that using old anti-Semitic prejudices to describe Israelis is a legitimate criticism rather than an anti-Semitic opinion; 43% (compared to 33% of French people overall) believe that accusing Jews of being responsible for Israel’s policies is also more likely to be a legitimate criticism. Moreover, 70% of La France insoumise voters opposed bans on rallies in support of the Palestinian cause (compared to 40% of French people overall) because of the risk of riots with an anti-Semitic background. (…)
The general perception that there is too much coverage of anti-Semitism, while less and less shared by all French people, is persistent among certain groups of the population: those who inform themselves via blogs or internet forums are the most likely to think that there is too much talk about anti-Semitism (27%, compared to 15% on average for the population as a whole), as are voters for La France insoumise (22%), the Rassemblement National (20%) and sympathisers of the anti-vaccine movement (22%).
According to our data, 15% of Muslims say they feel antipathy towards Jews, which is 10 percentage points higher than in the French population as a whole. Even more, the divergence from the general public is most spectacular when it comes to agreeing with prejudice. The idea that Jews dominate the media (54%, +30 points compared to the total French population) or the economy and finance (51%, +27 points) is shared by more than one in two Muslims. The detailed analysis of the results refutes the hypothesis that anti-Semitism is due to socio-economic reasons. In fact, the level of agreement with the prejudices is very high even among executives or people with a university degree.Anti-Semitic views are also common among both Maghreb and sub-Saharan African Muslims. As we had found in our 2014 survey, agreement with prejudice is related to the intensity of worship attendance: For example, 61% of Muslims who attend mosque weekly believe that “Jews have too much power in business and finance”, compared to 40% among non-practitioners.2 Most Muslims who attend mosque believe that Jews have too much power in business and finance. Among Muslims, however, it can be observed that certain anti-Semitic prejudices are less prevalent among the new generations. For example, 60% of Muslims over 50 believe that “the Jews have too much power in the media”, compared to 40% among Muslims aged 18-24. Similarly, 59% of Muslims over 50 think that “the Jews have too much power in business and finance”, compared to 34% among 18-24 year olds.
An in-depth analysis of the results makes it possible to better understand the logic underlying this anti-Semitism. The qualitative study AJC-Fondation pour l’innovation politique, conducted by Ifop in 2017, showed that a part of Muslims spontaneously expressed the feeling of being discriminated against by the media and public authorities3. Some of those interviewed in semi-direct interviews stated that Jewish French people received “preferential treatment”, which according to these people was due to the fact that the media and public authorities expressed their indignation with greater zeal when anti-Semitic acts were committed than when Muslims were attacked. The survey results provide at least a partial measure of how strongly such opinions are weighted among France’s Muslim population. More than a third of respondents believe that anti-Semitism is talked about too much (36%), a result far above the figure measured for the French population as a whole (15%).Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the relationship to the Sarah Halimi case differs quite significantly in the two samples: While the court decision is very largely met with incomprehension and disapproval by the French public as a whole (72%), respondents of Muslim faith share this incomprehension and disapproval significantly less often (56%).
In the last twenty years, there have been increasing reports from history teachers of growing difficulties in teaching the memory of the Holocaust. Questions of remembrance are at the centre of the return of anti-Semitic discourses, as evidenced by the career of the comedian Dieudonné or the indigenist movements. The satirist has gradually become an avowed anti-Semite, blaming “Zionists” and the “Jewish lobby” since 2005 for his inability to obtain subsidies for a film on the slave trade. We have therefore tried to understand the importance of these disputes in the context of the ” competition of memories ” within the French population. The idea that commemorating the Holocaust prevents other historical destinies from being taken into account resonates with a third of French people (35%), but is much more prevalent among French people of the Muslim faith (59%).
