Recognizing Palestine would deepen French Muslim-Jewish rift

Mohammed Iriqat has witnessed first-hand France's shifting stance on the crisis in the Gaza Strip, from the taunts he once received for wearing a kaffiyeh, a scarf symbolizing Palestinian solidarity, to being part of widespread protests as the devastating war in the Palestinian enclave grinds on.

Now, the Paris-based Palestinian law student is experiencing yet another shift after President Emmanuel Macron announced on July 24 that France will recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

"It's very symbolic, but ultimately important," Iriqat, 30, said of the statehood recognition, even as he prefers tougher options like boycotts and sanctions against Israel. Still, he added that the move "will build on others for a new era."

Iriqat's response echoes the fractured reaction in France to Macron's statehood announcement, which has sharply divided France's political class and deepened tensions between its Jewish and Muslim communities, Western Europe's largest. Both have seen a sharp uptick in attacks since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted nearly two years ago. Even with a split on the statehood recognition, both faiths also worry their fraying ties may further erode.

"The war has ended many relationships, both among leaders and among the population," Gerard Unger, vice president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF), told DW. "The two sides hardly speak anymore. Each side is aware that if they do, each will declare it's a victim."

The CRIF is among those blasting Macron's declaration, alongside French conservative and far-right politicians. In a statement, the Jewish group called it a "moral fault, a diplomatic error and a political danger."

"Macron isn't respecting his own engagements," said Unger. He noted that the French president earlier set still-unmet conditions for recognizing Palestinian statehood, including the release of Israeli hostages and the "demilitarization" of Hamas, an Islamist militant group which Israel, the European Union, the United States and others have designated as a terrorist organization. "That explains the Jewish community's anger and disappointment."

Other prominent Jewish figures are also sharply critical. "It's an opportunistic decision," lawyer Arno Klarsfeld, son of famous Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, told France's conservative CNews TV. "It cements the divorce with the Jewish community in France, considerably chills relations with Israel and the United States and reinforces Hamas."

Not surprisingly, many of France's Muslim leaders and leftist parties have broadly saluted the president's move.

"Mr. Macron's decision has been received with great satisfaction and joy," said Abdallah Zekri, vice president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith. "We hope it will translate to reality in September, without any preconditions."

France makes U-turn on Gaza conflict

Few dispute that Macron's statehood declaration marks a diplomatic U-turn. Two weeks after the Hamas-led attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, the French president was in Jerusalem pledging "unconditional support" for Israel, calling for an international coalition to fight Hamas. Last year, he led a ceremony for French victims of the Hamas assault, calling it "the largest antisemitic attack of our century."

But Macron reportedly has been shaken by Gaza's escalating humanitarian crisis and Israel's ongoing military campaign. The conflict in Gaza has killed more than 62,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the enclave, and many currently suffer from widespread famine.

In June, France shut down several Israeli weapons stands at the Paris Air Show for refusing to remove attack arms in their display, sparking Israeli fury.

Then came Macron's announced intention to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized by saying it "rewards terror." Undeterred, France, along with Saudi Arabia, co-hosted a UN conference in New York on July 28 calling for a two-state solution.

How the French public feels about Palestinian statehood

Polls suggest that a majority of French people support the idea. But a June survey from the French Institute of Public Opinion, sponsored by CRIF, shows most first want the remaining Israeli hostages taken during the October 7 attacks freed and Hamas to surrender as conditions.

"The majority of French Jews aren't hostile to a two-state solution" under the right conditions, the Jewish council's Unger added. Most also "consider the situation in Gaza with tens of thousands of dead is awful," he said, even as they blame Hamas, not Israel, for the war.

Like the CRIF, Pierre Stambul, who heads the small French Jewish Union for Peace, also criticizes Macron's statehood declaration but for different reasons.

"It's total hypocrisy," he said. "What France is doing is nothing at all. Many states already recognize the state of Palestine."

France has the biggest Jewish and Muslim communities in western EuropeImage: Elizabeth Bryant/DW

Rabbi Michel Serfaty, who has worked for years building interfaith ties, was noncommittal about Macron's announcement.

"Let's see how our fellow Muslims will react," he said. "What interests many is just to live in peace."

'Politics are politics. People are people'

Events in the Middle East have long reverberated in France, where many of the country's roughly 500,000 Jews and up to 6 million Muslims hail from similar North African roots. Both Jews and Muslims have seen a spike in physical and verbal assaults since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

Unger, of the CRIF, said antisemitic attacks have "multiplied by two or three. Before, they were verbal threats; now, they're physical ones. Rabbis have been attacked."

The French Muslim Council's Zekri described a similar uptick. "Personally, I've received slices of ham in my mailbox, threats sent to my home," he said. Many Muslims, he added, also don't report such acts to the police.

In the 19th arrondissement of Paris, home to some of the city's biggest Muslim and Jewish populations, many declined to be interviewed. A group of Hassidic men, chatting outside a religious book shop on a sunny afternoon, only acknowledged that relations were complex.

"We're not looking for problems," one said. "We try to keep good relations with the Arabs."

A few blocks away, Algerian businessman Karim Kata said the two communities "try to avoid politics."

"We've known each other for a long time," he added, pointing out Jewish businesses nearby, including a kosher butchery employing Muslim workers. "We respect each other. Politics are politics. People are people."

More diverse pro-Palestinian protests in France

Iriqat, the Paris law student, moved to France four years ago and is no stranger to interfaith tensions. He describes slurs against him in the street and being targeted for joining pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which were initially banned over public order concerns. 

"It's difficult to hold any sign that tells that you are Palestinian," he recalled of the early protests that initially mainly drew Muslims. "To wear a kaffiyeh, to hold the Palestinian flag — it was very difficult."

Soon, however, "we started to see a lot of French, even the Jewish community, the leftist Jews," Iriqat said. "I saw they began to feel sorry about what was happening."

Mohammed Iriqat intends to keep campaigning for Palestinian statehood in FranceImage: Elizabeth Bryant/DW

Born in the occupied West Bank, he still recalls the day Israeli soldiers shot dead one of his uncles as the man sat studying on the family's rooftop terrace. Iriqat was 4 years old at the time.

"I remember every single thing — even the smell of the food my grandmother was cooking," he said. "I remember pieces of my uncle's brain on the stairs of our home."

He hopes growing international pressure on Israel will eventually sway its biggest ally, the United States, to follow suit and ultimately destroy a system he describes as apartheid.

"I'm dedicating my life to Palestine and the Palestinians," said Iriqat, who plans to remain in France and continue his studies.

"When I'm fighting for Palestine," he adds, "I'm also fighting for the interests of the Israelis."

Edited by: Davis VanOpdorp