## 29 Boycott

Last week, there was yet another controversy surrounding my political camp. An elected official from the party I support had the very bad idea of trying to prevent a performance by a DJ, who incidentally is Jewish, and had supported the Yadan Law, a law that made a dangerous conflation of anti-Zionism, anti-Semitism, and implicit racism. The concept of “implicit” in law is extremely vague. It also happens that this DJ is a victim of fatphobia and homophobia. She has since backtracked on the Yadan Law, which was temporarily shelved only to resurface later. But she also did a concert in Tel-Aviv but not during the Pride, as many said, but in the French Embassy. In the context of a presidential campaign, I find such protests particularly inappropriate, not to say stupid. Stupid because at least it doesn't helps the cause of Palestinians and changes nothing about Genocide. And if you had an awful flyer/poster for this action, it did indeed reek of something foul, exactly reminiscent of what the far right is 
accused of. And in the same place, 6 months ago, an israeli singer who made worse, had no protest or boycott of the same intensity...why ? 

What shocked me wasn’t the usual political exploitation by the political class, which sees this boycott as yet another piece of evidence of this left-wing party’s anti-Semitism, while the far right, condemned for racism, struts around on every talk show. No, it’s that other similar actions have been carried out on both sides, and notably by small groups linked to the Israeli government, against left-wing comedians and artists who have made protests for Gaza. There have also been incidents involving a singer convicted after the murder of his partner, others accused of rape, and so on. You can’t apply the freedom to practice one’s art with double standards. But the protest targeting this DJ was particularly ill-advised in this context, as it was bound to generate negative publicity.

I myself have participated in protests, some of which were aimed at stopping what some people call an art form: bullfighting. I think, at the very least, there’s a consensus on this issue that we shouldn’t call it art, right? ...I also came across a piece of news that I’d missed. A comedian of Iranian origin who was successful five or six years ago was blacklisted and dropped by his agent overnight following a bad joke (dark humor is never easy...) about a Jewish girl he met. It was indeed a smear campaign organized by another comedian, who suspected him of other acts against him, that wiped out this budding career in one fell swoop. There was no suspicion of anti-Semitism, by the way—just a settling of scores orchestrated under this pretext and amplified by the influential Jewish community in the entertainment industry. It’s as if this community wants to give anti-Semites every opportunity to fuel their racism with the age-old argument about the hidden influence of Jews. Stupid too but kept in sil
ence.

All of this illustrates the deeply unhealthy climate in this country. It should be added that evidence of manipulation of French municipal elections by elements within the Israeli government was uncovered this year. This comes on top of Russian interference and, one might imagine, Chinese interference as well. All of this permeates every sphere of society to the point where every issue becomes a sensitive one. Add to that the influence of billionaires in the media, of which they own at least 70%, and everything becomes complicated. I admit that this must have subconsciously weighed on my decision to stop talking so much about geopolitics. I can’t even see myself writing political posts like I used to for this presidential campaign. If, on top of that, my health doesn’t hold up, I risk watching all of this from a great distance.

The tactic of boycotts, since that’s the topic I’m discussing this week, is a complex issue. Its effectiveness isn’t always proven. I recall boycotts of French products that have sometimes taken place in China or against other countries. Boycotts of Israeli products are also sometimes labeled as acts of terrorism by the most vocal critics. There is a relative economic impact because only a politicized minority of customers, less than 10%, participate. Actions to obstruct or block sales remain limited in both time and geography. They’re more about generating media attention to get a message across. But in our case today, this is counterproductive, effectively providing a platform for supporters of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, rather than achieving the initial objective. Those who are undecided on these issues will only be reinforced in their indecision and doubt, and supporters on both sides will remain entrenched in their positions.

Above all, I think that for the sake of my mental and physical health, I'm going to boycott the media in general.

2Dɛ
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