Bulletin N°64 2026 Jean-Luc Mélenchon's recent statements, following the Paris police prefect's attempt to ban the concert organized by La France Insoumise (LFI) at Place de la République, declaring, "The CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France) is calling the shots," have generated considerable controversy and outrage. We will return later to the despicable accusations of anti-Semitism, coming even from the left. Our primary concern, however, is the fundamental error made by the leader of La France Insoumise.
The ruling class is in charge, not the Zionist movement.
The president of the CRIF, a special agent of the Zionist colonial entity in France, did indeed initiate the process that led to the police prefect's ban, which, incidentally, was not difficult to predict would be overturned by the courts. But the CRIF, like the numerous Zionist associations present in our country, does not give orders to the government. On the contrary, it is the capitalist bourgeoisie and its proxies who use the CRIF and other Zionist associations as leverage to intimidate, censor, or repress those who defend Palestine, and particularly the supporters of a free Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
Many people of good faith believe that the Zionist lobby has infiltrated or exerts pressure on the workings of Western imperialist states, and that the representatives of the multinational corporations that run these states obey the injunctions, advice, and pressures of these lobbies, or even act because they are largely funded by them, as is the case with AIPAC in the USA. It is quite possible, even highly probable, that politicians in the US Congress or Senate, or in the French National Assembly or Senate, have a puppet in their pocket. But political decisions are not made based on pressure groups; the world does not operate that way. Western leaders are not at the service of lobbies, but at the service of the ruling class, their capitalist bourgeoisie, their multinational corporations.
The Zionist entity is a card in the Western imperialist game, but an essential one.
To believe otherwise is to misunderstand the workings of the capitalist system and its imperialist stage. While the rivalry between European imperialist powers gave way, after 1945, to a Western imperialist bloc aligned with the USA, this does not preclude contradictions between the imperialist powers. But on the essential question of world domination, particularly in the Near and Middle East, and especially regarding the colonization of Palestine, it is Western multinationals that dictate the roadmap; it is Western imperialists who decide. History has shown this; British leaders, with the help of their French counterparts, decided on the creation of a buffer state in the Near East to control maritime routes, ensure the fragmentation of the Arab world, and seize its resources. To this end, they met with and utilized the Zionist movement and its colonial project of replacement.
Therefore, we say to those who are surprised or outraged by Western "complicity" in the genocide that Western imperialist states are not complicit, but rather active participants in the colonization of Palestine, and have been from the very beginning. The position of companies like Carrefour or BNP Paribas in occupied Palestine, for example, is enough to prove this. The existence of the Zionist colonial entity is vital for US, French, British, and other multinational corporations; they directly profit from the colonization of Palestine. They need it, regardless of the horrors committed. And for a state like the USA, which was built on the genocide of a people and on a similar form of replacement colonization, there is no moral dilemma in supporting the eradication of the Palestinians.
Similarly, contrary to what many Americans rightly believe—outraged by the abuses of the US and Zionist armies—the imperialist aggression against Iran is not explained by the fact that "Trump is waging war for Israel ," but by the need to maintain Western imperialist domination over the Near and Middle East. Trump has, for the moment, failed in his objective, but he orchestrated the aggression to serve not the Zionists, but his own multinational corporations, within the context of the major imperialist rivalry between the US and China.
In France, Zionists are also instruments of the ruling class
Regarding the specific issue of state repression in France, all Zionist organizations are used to file complaints in order to become civil parties in legal proceedings, but it is indeed the leaders of the bourgeois state who orchestrate the police and judicial repression, as seen in the removal of the "apology for terrorism" offense from the press law and the devastating circular issued by Dupond-Moretti just days after October 7, 2023. Like those acting in their official capacity, the justice system does not serve lobbies, but rather the capitalist ruling class. As Engels and Lenin defined it, it is a special force of repression, serving another: the State. Furthermore, it is essential to examine the targets of this state repression. After a brief period of confusion, the government and magistrates have focused on their true enemies. Those advocating for two states, a just and lasting peace, and other such nonsense are not targeted. Supporters of a decolonized and free Palestine, and therefore of the dismantling of the Zionist colonial entity and support for the Resistance in all its forms, are being prosecuted, their incomes deprived, and they are condemned. This explains why the only person truly bothered within La France Insoumise (LFI) is Rima Hassan, who, despite her shortcomings in understanding the imperialist system, advocates for a binational state—a way of saying "free Palestine" without actually saying so.
The case of Nuñez, aided by the CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France), against La France Insoumise (LFI) primarily serves domestic political objectives. On the one hand, LFI loudly proclaims its support for Palestine, while remaining neutral, refusing to consider the dismantling of the Zionist colonial entity. But, as they are the only ones on the parliamentary "left" to address this issue, they garner support. And, even if their position on colonization in general is far from clear, as evidenced by the Western Sahara issue or their recent pro-colonial vote on French Guiana, they embody, for a segment of young people, solidarity with the Palestinian people. Their approach, however, has a major limitation: they consider Palestinians solely as victims and not as a people building their own national liberation, because they do not support the Resistance; quite the contrary. The government is using every Zionist tactic to suppress pro-Palestinian voices, to silence them or intimidate them, and it is using the ideological argument of antisemitism. The supposed ban on the concert is just the latest twist in this confrontation. It's either an attempt to pressure supporters of La France Insoumise (LFI) to soften their stance on the Palestinian cause, or to portray LFI as the sole supporter of Palestine, at the expense of those who advocate for Palestinian national liberation. Finally, let's not forget the context of these clashes between politicians over the very long duration of the election campaign. Nine months before the presidential elections, the current agents of Capital are trying (and will continue to try), in a two-pronged approach, to confine LFI because of its support for Palestine, by equating this support with antisemitism—though this seems rather complicated—and to restrict support for Palestine to LFI alone, in order to silence those who advocate for national liberation. This failed during the struggle for the release of Georges Abdallah, but it fits perfectly with the current episode of repression.
To achieve this dual objective, the government finds in Zionist organizations a particularly enthusiastic vehicle, which also has its own reasons: the unconditional ideological defense of Zionist replacement colonization. However enthusiastic and motivated it may be, this vehicle remains an instrument of the ruling class; it does not hold the reins of power .
Antisemitism, revised and corrected, as a propaganda weapon
Regarding the Revolutionary Communist Party, it is also important to address the accusations leveled against Mélenchon and La France Insoumise after his denunciation of the CRIF's role in the attempted ban and intimidation orchestrated by Nuñez and the government. To say "the CRIF commands the ministers" would be tantamount to resurrecting the Jewish conspiracy of 19th and 20th-century anti-Semites , or even proclaiming the validity of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." This pernicious argument relies on the idea, imposed by the ruling class and its propaganda outlets, that the CRIF represents "the Jews." This is completely false. The CRIF is a fascist Zionist organization whose aim is to defend the Zionist colonial entity at all costs, by any means necessary, while trying, with increasing difficulty, to make people believe that it represents the Jews of France. The CRIF is Betar in a suit and tie. The accusation of antisemitism thus collapses of its own accord. But the defenders of the Zionist colonial state and the proxies of Capital have, for several years now, and especially since the Palestinian uprising of October 7, 2023, changed the meaning of the word antisemitism, which they now equate with anti-Zionism or the systematic criticism of the genocidal colonial entity. The growing awareness among workers in this country and around the world of the genocide, and the fact that hatred of Zionism is rising everywhere, puts the government and its proxies in a difficult position. They must cling to their ideological tool, even if they are retreating, even at the risk of fueling antisemitism themselves by equating all Jews with the Zionist colonial state. They therefore use this "argument" in every conceivable way, and not only against La France Insoumise (LFI), relentlessly, heavily invoking the Holocaust. And if this can help to rewrite the history of the Second World War, that's commendable.
Thus, Yael Braun-Pivet recently declared, speaking of the Holocaust: " the abyss into which Europe sank ." Either she means—though this would be surprising—that the German-dominated Europe of 1941 was indeed the prelude to the EU, or, more likely, she is denying the responsibility of Capital in order to blame the people and that of Germany in order to blame all the anti-Nazi belligerents. The claim is this: the industrial destruction of the Jews of Europe is something other than first and foremost a German crime, linked to the history of this imperialist power, at a time when, in the very country where the monstrous beast arose, the womb is ever more fertile. Europe's participation consisted of dictatorships subservient to Germany and pro-Nazi collaborators, such as Estonia, the first "Jew-free" state in 1941, or, of course, Western Ukraine under Bandera and Melnyk. One cannot reasonably accuse the defenders of Palestine of antisemitism when one has nothing to say against the puppet Zelinski when he transports the ashes of the Nazi Melnyk to the Ukrainian pantheon.
Even if it doesn't work as well as its proponents would like, the modified antisemitism approach remains one of the bourgeoisie's best assets. Antisemitism is a horrible thing, like all forms of racism. But antisemitism cannot be fought by making it a "separate form of racism," nor by portraying the Jewish Holocaust as a crime by definition unparalleled, much less by trying to make people believe that the creation of the Zionist entity was a consequence of it, or by equating the defense of the colonial entity with that of the Jews. The best way to ensure the Shoah is not forgotten today is still to denounce the genocide in Gaza.
Finally, the best way to disarm all this propaganda and separate the genocidal colonial entity from Judaism is to remember this: European immigrants came, from the beginning of the 20th century , to drive the indigenous Palestinians from their lands and homes. It is also important to remember that while there is a Jewish religion and culture, there is no Jewish people, and therefore, this imaginary people cannot have a nation-state. There are European Jews, the Ashkenazim, many of whom spoke a Germanic language, Yiddish; Berber Jews, the Sephardim; Arab Jews, the Mizrahi; Yemeni Jews; Ethiopian Jews, the Falashas… And it is crucial to clearly identify Zionism as a political, colonial, fascist, racist movement for which religion is merely a pretext.
The other propaganda weapon, the glorification of terrorism, is that of repression.
But while accusations of antisemitism against defenders of Palestine fill newsrooms, television studios, and the speeches of many politicians, when it comes to repression, judges use another argument: that of "glorifying terrorism." This argument is used in more discreet settings, in a police station, during a custody hearing, or in a courtroom—that is, quite far removed from the general public. The public debate that can be perceived around the notion of antisemitism as used by the media does not take place around the concept of glorifying terrorism. It does not take place because, probably, the proponents of Capital do not want this notion to be widely discussed, but also because the debate in question presupposes a questioning of the concept, and therefore a defense of the Resistance. And those who support the Resistance do not appear on television. Given the weight of the colonial question, which means that the defense of Palestinian national liberation attracts far fewer people in France compared to our Italian, British, Irish, Belgian, or Spanish neighbors, Capital has no interest in allowing public debate on this subject. It risks challenging the very concept of "terrorism" and exposing the entire repressive apparatus it has established.
He keeps his argument close to his chest, but doesn't hesitate to use it for repression. In the courts, most judges are both judge and jury; they want the skins of those who defend a free Palestine. The French capitalist bourgeoisie kept Georges Abdallah in prison for over forty years, giving its judges every tool at their disposal to ensure no one slips through the net. As we have written several times, expressing sympathy for the victims of Gaza is permitted in our country. Criticizing Netanyahu's government is tolerated, and even encouraged as long as Netanyahu is labeled far-right, in order to better protect and spare the "left-wing Zionists." But demanding a true end to colonization, that is, the national liberation of Palestine, is forbidden. So is questioning the legitimacy of the Zionist colonial state or supporting the Palestinian armed resistance. In the name of "apology for terrorism", class justice has thus condemned dozens of activists for the national liberation of Palestine.
Regarding the Revolutionary Communist Party, it is important to react to this issue, to defend Alex, Amira Zaiter, Olivia Zemor, Omar Alsoumi, Ramy Schaath, François Burgat, and many others. Challenging the biased concept of terrorism must be done on the same level as challenging the other biased concept of antisemitism, which has been revised and corrected. This is an integral part of the struggle to develop, in France, the movement of solidarity with a free Palestine and the definitive end of Zionist colonization.
In conclusion
This crucial question of challenging the concept of terrorism is nevertheless ignored by the political "left." For the most part, people on the "left" refuse to properly analyze the colonial situation in Palestine. And the reason is simple: they are indelibly marked by the ideological legacy of colonization, French imperialism, and Voltaire's "Enlightenment." Their position consists of denigrating Hamas or the armed resistance, telling Palestinians who should organize the resistance and how. These same people always talk about peace, not the national liberation of Palestine. They talk about a "two-state solution," which de facto allows for the continuation of colonization. Finally, they are the same people who speak of the "complicity" of Western imperialists, not their direct involvement in colonization. They are also the same people who objectively try to excuse French imperialism, claiming it is under pressure from lobbies like the CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France).
We say it again: the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance fighters are battling the same enemy that oppresses us: Western imperialism. Their victory would be a powerful signal for our own emancipation. A people fighting for their national liberation against a creature of Western imperialists is also fighting against colonialism and its ideological presuppositions, which are now poisoning the entire French "left."
For the Revolutionary Communist Party, the struggle of the Palestinian Resistance, directly confronting the vanguard of Western imperialism, is vital for the proletariat of the entire planet; the Palestinians are a people active in their own history, fighting against Zionism, imperialism and reaction, for their national liberation, a long struggle whose centrality and strategic nature we must recognize in favor of our own emancipation.
The Zionist colonial state will fall, that is the direction of history; and Palestine will be free from the sea to the Jordan!