Questions & Answers with Philippe Karsenty

Philippe Karsenty is a Jewish intellectual and an elected official. He is a French media analyst and the founder/director of Media-Ratings which monitors French media for bias. In 2004, he wrote that France 2 and Charles Enderlin had staged the al-Dura incident in 2000, in the Gaza strip. He was sued for libel. He first lost the case in 2006, then he won before the Paris Court of Appeals in 2008. Thanks to him, part of France 2’s footages were released. Philippe Karsenty won a case against French channel Canal + for defamation in 2010. In 2008, he was elected on a center-right ticket as a deputy Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine. He is running to be elected deputy at the NationalAssembly, one of the two chambers of French Parliament.

Interview en français

What are the circumstances of your candidacy?

I am campaigning to represent a newly created constituency, which comprises French citizens living abroad, mostly in Israel, in Italy, in Greece and in Turkey. Israelis make up the largest percentage of this newly represented population.

This is a unique opportunity to have in the French Parliament a friend of Israel who has fought in favour of Israel for years, against all odds and in many countries. This chance is made possible by the significant size of the voting population living in Israel. With Israel’s situation becoming more precarious each day, we cannot afford to let Israel’s enemies benefit from that seat.

Who are the other candidates for that constituency?

The election will take place on June 2012. I was the first to declare my candidacy.

The UMP -- President Nicolas Sarkozy’s party -- is represented by Valerie Hoffenberg, who joined in 2009 the Quai d’Orsay, the French State Department. She never opposed to the anti-Israel line of the French diplomacy. On March 11, 2011, French on line newspaper Atlantico issued an article quoting Claude Goasguen, the head of the France-Israel Friendship Group at the French National Assembly, who said that “Hoffenberg shouldn’t run for the UMP in Israel because she is too pro-Palestinian”. On May, 3, Goasguen did not really deny in his blog. That article is still on Atlantico’s website. On May 5, 2011, Goasguen wrote in his blog that, as the head of that France-Israel Friendship Group, he is bound by his duty of discretion until the  official campaign period starts in 2012.

Some other French Jewish community’s responsibles are thinking about joining the race. They barely have no chance to win the seat because they intend to campaign only in Israel, whereas the election will also be done in other countries where I already have supporters.

You live in France and you are a deputy Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine. How will you campaign?

I’m campaigning by visiting these countries quite often and meeting people in each and every country concerned by this election. My proposals will meet French electors’s expectations and will address a wide range of topics.

Some support committees have already been created and I’m getting nice feed-backs. We also use social media. Groups have been created on Facebook and we’re getting bigger on the internet with Twitter and soon a dedicated website.

Why do you feel that you will be an asset to French Jewish voters?

I don’t see the things that way. I’ll be first an asset for all the French electors because my fights are not only good for Israel, but also for France. France, the State of Israel, and more generally the free world are confronted with radical Islam which is the new totalitarism of our time.

Israel in on the frontline and by supporting Israel, I’m also supporting the European countries which are not considering this Islamic threat seriously enough. In the al-Dura blood libel, I have proven my ability in fighting efficiently for the Truth. In order to be stronger, I’m creating my own political party to convey our common values which are most of the time forgotten by the French elite.

You won two trials in the al-Dura incident: the alleged killing of Palestinian boy Muhammad al-Dura. You participated in many conferences all around the world. What do you think of France 2’s controversial report?

In 2000, France 2 aired a hoax which in particular inflamed the Muslim world. It never acknowledged that it did not respect journalism ethics in its report: it has no image of Muhammad al-Dura’s agony or death, it failed explaining incoherencies, etc.

French media know that if France 2’s lies are revealed, their lies and malpractices will be revealed as well. France 2’s attitude is a shame for the French society. That State-run channel should be severely punished for what it did. The French society is sick of lies and of “politically correct” discourses. Many French people are shocked by the anti-Semitism most of its media outlets are subtly diffusing. Time is up for a revolution in the French media outlets!

The Jewish Community Protection Service (SPCJ) reports that 466 anti-Semitic aggressions were registered in 2010, as compared with 832 anti-Semitic attacks in 2009 -- a 43.9 percent drop. Since the start of the Intifada II in 2000, the “average” annual number of anti-Semitic cases has remained at high level (around 500)…

The intellectual atmosphere is very hostile towards Israel. This is what makes these anti-Semitic acts possible. Most of French journalists are very anti-Israel and their coverage of the Near-East conflict is biased. When Israel defends itself -- for instance, Operation Cast Lead -- against the aggressions of Palestinians (firings of Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip), data show an increase in anti-Semitic violence.

What is the French political authorities and citizens’ attitude towards Jews and anti-Semitism ?

The French political authorities fight against anti-Semitism without understanding the problem of incitement. The French establishment is so biased against Israel that it doesn’t realize that it is living in an upside-down fictional world where Israel is presented as the aggressor and the Arabs are presented as the victims.

President Sarkozy claimed that he was a friend of Israel, but his diplomacy turned to be more and more hostile to Israel. Most of supporters of Israel are complaining about President Obama’s attitude towards the Jewish State. And they are right. However, on February 18, 2011, President Obama vetoed a draft resolution “condemning the continuation of settlement activities by Israel in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem” at the UN Security Council, while President Sarkozy’s France voted in favour of the resolution. In “their joint statement to the Council, France, the United Kingdom and Germany reiterated the illegality of settlements and the threat it constituted to a two-state solution”.

What do you think about the UMP’s debateabout Islam and Secularism in France?

It’s a truncated debate because French politicians refuse to address the real problem: Islam defies Western democracies.

Instead of stopping radical Islam, Western politicians, and especially French ones, have progressively accepted some of its requests. In 2010, a French law banned the burka and other Muslim coverings, such as niqab, in public places. It will go into effect on April 11, 2011. Its implementation may be difficult.

In Paris, Marseille, Toulouse and Nice, Muslims illegally and regularly block streets for Friday prayers on the public ground. Is it acceptable? No. In order to justify their impotence, French politicians claim that Muslims lack mosques and that building mosques is indispensable. Nonsense!

That article was originally published by Ami Magazine

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