London says ‘non’ to éric zemmour | thearticle

There is excitement in some far-Right circles in England that the French controversialist Éric Zemmour is in London, apparently to meet Tory MPs, according to the _ Daily Express. _ __

Zemmour has been the media sensation of the French presidential election so far. He campaigns against French Muslim citizens and supports the white supremacist theory of “ The Great

Replacement ” —  the idea that Christian white citizens in Europe or America are being replaced by growing number of non-white and Muslim citizens. Some have compared him to Donald Trump or

Boris Johnson as a nationalist populist, who flirts (or worse) with xenophobic passions to win votes. The comparison with Johnson is odious and simply wrong. Zemmour has never been elected

and has nothing but contempt for democratic politics. Johnson has been an elected MP and Mayor, Minister and PM since 2001. He has been a Tory since Oxford. To be sure, he attracted

attention on his climb up the greasy pole with some excessive and extravagant language in his daily journalism. But this was about making as much money as possible from shock jock hackery,

designed to seduce the Tory faithful, and, in passing, more than a few Tory ladies. Zemmour is a star of what the French call the _Fachosphere _and has only ever pandered to extreme white

supremacist views. In contrast, Johnson ’ s cabinet is the most multi-racial in the democratic world. There are plenty of liberal reflexes lurking in the Prime Minister ’ s confused and

changeable world view. He likes cheering us up and making us laugh. Zemmour wants to make the French fearful and full of hate. He refused this week to appear in a Paris court on charges of

stirring up hate. It is not even clear if he will risk running for President. Unlike Johnson, who couldn ’ t wait to be an MP, Zemmour regards democracy as a problem. Were Zemmour to run and

get into the second round of the April elections in France, Macron would easily beat him. Much smarter for Zemmour to get maximum publicity and promotion for his writing by using the French

presidential election as a giant book promotion tour. In Macron ’ s second term Zemmour would be irreplaceable as Macron ’ s main media opponent and help shape a new agenda for the French

Right . Nonetheless, his views are far to the right of anything that even ardent British right-wingers endorse. He admires P é tain, the Nazi collaborator and leader of Vichy France , 1940

-44, who sent French Jews to the gas chambers. A few years ago he argued that it was a tragedy that Germany lost the First World War as, for Zemmour, a “ Pax Germanica” would have been

preferable to the Anglo-American English-speaking hegemony that emerged in the last century and came to overshadow French global status and presence. Boris Johnson now and then does a little

French-bashing, or rather Macron-bashing, to keep his troops happy. But British ministers are under orders always to say warm words about France as a friend, ally, and partner of Britain,

even under current Brexit tensions. Zemmour , of course, is anti-European and indulges in ritual Brussels-bashing, but then so does almost every French politician of right, left or green

politics, when the discussion turns to compliance with EU directives. Zemmour , though, is far to the Right of anything in mainstream English politics. He has attracted attention from some

English anti-Macronites. However, not even the British National Party in its heyday, when the far-Right party was winning MEP and local council seats during the Labour government years, used

the kind of hate language in which Zemmour indulges. He has come to London to raise money and also to look for possible voters. London is the sixth biggest city in the world for French

citizens. French voters in London voted for the socialist Fran ç ois Hollande in 2012 and then Emmanuel Macron in 2017. They are mainly middle-class professionals, students and some high

earners, but there is no evidence that French citizens in London are racists or anti-Semites . Zemmour ’ s supporters in London had booked the Royal Institution, a prestigious Mayfair

meeting place. In 2017 the conservative French candidate, Fran ç ois Fillon, held a successful meeting there, before his habit of employing his Welsh-born wife on the parliamentary payroll

was exposed and he had to stand down. The Royal Institution, which is to science what the Royal Academy is to art, accepted the booking in good faith, but then found out who Zemmour is,

recoiled in horror and cancelled the event. London doesn ’ t do racism and anti-Semitism. Zemmour has received a much tougher response from Britain than he has so far in France.