Antisemitic conspiracies about French protests spread across social media – watchdog

The nationwide civil unrest that erupted in France sparked an online wave of antisemitic narratives blaming the crisis on Jews and Israel, according to a new report by the Combat Antisemitism Movement’s Antisemitism Research Center.

The report published Sunday documented 1,384 posts from 816 unique accounts on X over two days, October 16–18, as anti-government rioters clashed with police and vandalized businesses and other buildings, including a synagogue. Research was based on 18,381 posts from X using 25 search queries in 7 languages.

The publication came as France reels from the fallout of what began as student and cost-of-living protests, but which quickly descended into the worst rioting the country has seen in years.

Images of clashes and public buildings set on fire or vandalized circulated around the world, prompting several countries, including the United States, China and Germany, to issue travel advisories for their citizens in France.

The posts on social media followed similar patterns to those CAM identified after other recent events, including the thwarted attempt to crash an Israel-bound flydubai flight last month, and Spain’s border breach in Ceuta in August.

Narratives alleging that Jewish elites, Israel, the Mossad spy agency, or Zionists had orchestrated the unrest featured prominently in the posts. Other recurring themes invoked the Rothschild family and the Great Replacement, a white nationalist and far-right conspiracy theory. Posts also claimed that Jews were profiting from the crisis.

Seven of the examined social media posts called for violence against Jews, or the expulsion and extermination of French Jews, the report found.

According to CAM, 30 percent of the 1,384 posts were published by Islamist accounts, while 21% were linked to far-right and white nationalist accounts.

Another 14% of posts came from conspiracy theory-focused accounts, and 4% were from accounts linked to far-left movements. The remaining 31% of posts were from accounts with no clear affiliation.

The majority (69%) of the posts were in English, and just 21% were in French. Another 5% of the posts were in Arabic and 3% were in Spanish.

Calm holds overnight but protest groups gearing up for next round

After the violence of the weekend, French cities saw respite overnight from Monday to Tuesday due to partial curfews imposed in several cities, including Paris.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Tuesday that new curfews would continue to be imposed where needed, as the targeted measures had “helped keep the night calm.”

While some restrictions, such as those in Paris, were initially applied as a one-off measure, others, particularly in Bordeaux and Nice, were set to remain in force for several days.

The government scheduled another series of emergency meetings on Tuesday, including talks involving representatives of major social media platforms.

Under pressure, Lecornu will convene political parties for a meeting on Thursday, a member of his team said. He will also meet with trade unions on Wednesday.

The government has come under criticism from parties across the political spectrum, with far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen describing the unrest as a “wake-up call” that exposed a “profound crisis” of authority.

Police confirmed the night had passed without major incidents across France.

During the night, a helicopter flew over the French capital’s Place de la Republique, one of the epicenters of the unrest, sweeping a powerful searchlight across the square to monitor compliance with the curfew.

In Lyon, despite a ban on demonstrations, around 500 people gathered on Monday evening outside the tourism office that was set on fire to show support for shopkeepers affected by looting, according to organizers.

The word “LYON” had been spelled out on the ground with candles.

A banner hung on a fence nearby read “Anti-Rioters Lyon” and “Doucet Resign,” referring to Green mayor Gregory Doucet, an AFP journalist said.

But the relative calm may be short-lived, as protests groups announced a new round of demonstrations next Saturday.

“We carry on,” France’s main student union UNEF said in a flyer posted on social media, pledging to keep up the pressure on President Emmanuel Macron and his government to fix what students and pupils say is a broken and under-financed education system.

Separately, groups identifying themselves as “gilets jaunes” (yellow vests) called for scattered protest actions against spiraling fuel costs.

The yellow vest movement, which has largely calmed down over the past few years, was born in 2018 during Macron’s first term over plans to raise petrol taxes. Weekly traffic blockades and bouts of street violence continued for months.

Lecornu vowed on Monday that the government would learn lessons from last weekend’s protests and ensuing chaos.

“There were things that went well, and things that were screwed up,” he said. “My determination to restore order is absolute.”

France’s main labor unions, including the CGT — often the driving force behind large organized demonstrations — did not join the calls for protests next Saturday.

Nationwide, more than 2,500 people have been taken into police custody since the weekend, and 67 people have been jailed.

Some demonstrators were seriously injured. In the eastern city of Mulhouse, a 17-year-old girl lost an eye. In Saint-Étienne, a 17-year-old boy had his hand blown off by a grenade.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.