Left-wing, but still a Jew: French minister branded "dirty Zionist" over anti-Hamas stance 

A rally "against Islamophobia" at Paris’ Place de la République on Sunday evening, held in response to the recent murder of a Muslim worshipper named Aboubakar in a mosque in the Gard region, took a sharp turn when Socialist MP Jérôme Guedj attempted to join.

Although the event had started calmly, tensions rose as Guedj, present to pay tribute to the victim, was met with boos and violent insults from protesters. Shouts of "Get out," "son of a bitch," and "PS...Parti Sioniste [Zionist Party]" echoed as the MP was chased away.

Faced with hostility, Guedj chose to leave but continued debating with one protestor who had confronted him. The rally, which included deeply antisemitic figures like Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Palestinian activist MEP Rima Hassan, came just a year and a half after Guedj’s break with LFI over the October 7 massacres in Israel and LFI’s refusal to label Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Guedj, who rejects double standards, stated, "I also protested against Benjamin Netanyahu. I could have stayed home, but I was saddened by Aboubakar's murder. We need unity, not division. We can mourn both Gaza and Aboubakar’s death."

Guedj also criticized what he sees as the rise of "racist speech today."

Speaking to Le Figaro, Jérôme Guedj returned to the recurring insults he is the target of, a symptom, according to him, of the fractures running through the left: "There have been three demonstrations where I've been called a Zionist. On May 1st (Labor Day) it will probably be the same... What discourages me is that the nature of it is surely discouraging a lot of people from coming."