Right-wing extremist group targets pro-Palestine figures in France

By Seyma Uzundere

In France, journalists, artists, and opposition politicians who have been giving vocal support to Palestine amid Israel's relentless attacks on Gaza that started on Oct. 7 have been getting threatening messages from an extremist group.

The findings of a joint investigation by Anadolu and media outlet Gaza News+ revealed that some extremist groups, including the Jewish Defense League (LDJ), target prominent figures who declared support for Palestine by sharing their personal information on Telegram channels affiliated with the group.

People who want to join the Telegram channel are asked to show themselves on camera reading quotes from the Jewish Torah. Only those who meet these conditions are permitted to join the group.

The user known as Sh4d0w M3t4, the administrator of the Telegram channel, then gives instructions to a group known as the Am Israel-Team Action group, which has over 1,000 members, on the people to be targeted and the messages to be sent to these people.

In a message sent by the Am Israel-Team Action administrator at the beginning of this month, group members were warned not to use their own cellphones, to hide their phone numbers, and to stay "within the limits of legality.”

"We will deal with the most famous cases first, while the less important ones will be more cautious when they are confronted," the administrator added.

These groups then contact the workplaces of Palestinian supporters, to whom they send harassing messages on social media as part of the smear campaign.

The administrator also claimed he had been in direct contact with Israeli-French lawmaker Meyer Habib and given him information about the targeted pro-Palestine figures.

The LDJ has no legal status in France, according to French daily Le Figaro.

- Aiming for acts of violence

Members who successfully fulfill the instructions assigned to them in the Am Israel-Team Action group are said to eventually join a select group known as the Am Israel-Team Cyber group, which aims to move from harassment to more serious acts of violence.

Among the names that have been targeted by far-right extremists so far are comedian Yassine Belattar, Malik Bentalha, journalist Guillaume Meurice, lawyer Fabrice Di Vizio, and lawmakers David Guiraud and Louis Boyard, as well as Feiza Ben Mohamed, an Anadolu reporter.

Speaking to Anadolu, several of the people targeted by far-right extremists – who asked for anonymity for safety reasons – reported that they have been receiving dozens of threatening phone calls every day since Oct. 8 and that they are facing harassment and death threats.

"Those people are going to kill a random Arab one day, just to make an example out of it. I don’t see any other outcome to the escalation of the violence and threats, which will drag the country into a catastrophe," one of the targets said.

Two other people targeted explained that they got random phone calls from extremists, pretending to call from delivery services, in order to learn the access codes of the buildings where their targets live.

Other extremists sent e-mails, also supposedly for delivery purposes, asking the targets to fill in the blanks with their home addresses, according to the same source.

- Extremist right-wingers take to the streets

Using the excuse of the murder of a teenager named Thomas in the southeastern Drome region, extreme right-wingers took to the streets.

A far-right group of some 60 people carrying iron sticks and fireworks marched in the town of Romans-sur-Isere, chanting slogans such as “Islam out of Europe.”

Threatening messages were also sent to some mosques in the region.

Eventually, six people of the group who played a role in the violent acts were sentenced to six to 10 months in prison.

Far-right militants marched in the northwestern city of Rennes chanting slogans including “France Belongs to the French.”

Another group of far-right militants rallied in the southern city of Lyon, which has a sizeable immigrant population.

Images from the rally showed militants carrying banners saying “Immigration kills” and chanting “Islam out of Europe"

During this rally, eight extreme right-wingers were detained by the police.

Opposition lawmakers criticized the far-right rallies in different cities and accused the media and politicians of encouraging the far-right.

They stressed that far-right extremists have been trying to incite hatred against Muslims.​​​​​​​