LICRA condemned French retailer for selling books by far-right conspiracist
LICRA has denounced on Twitter that FNAC, one of the biggest retailers in France, is selling books by Youssef Hindi, a French essayist and public speaker linked to the antisemitic conspiracy movement.
In his books, such as “Occident and Islam”, Hindi develops his theory of “Jewish messianism”. Specifically, Hindi considers ‘’The Clash of Civilizations’’ – a thesis developed by historian Samuel Huntington in the 1990s, which became central in contemporary, anti-Muslim narratives – to be a plot orchestrated in the Middle Ages by Jews. This antisemitic narrative considers Jews to be the main driving force behind all major historical movements (such as freemasonry, socialism, Salafism) and events (such as the French Revolution, war in Iraq and the arrival of refugees in Europe over the past few years).
The COVID-19 pandemic is interpreted by Youssef Hindi with an antisemitic lens, which is seen as the implementation of a New World Order, or a “war against people” by “a certain elite” (a common dog whistle for Jews).
In their denunciation on Twitter, LICRA underscores how Youssef Hindi is close to Alain Soral, a well-known antisemite who has been convicted for incitement to racial hatred. The two of them led several conferences together and Hindi testified to defend Soral on his trial. Hindi is also connected to Soral’s association Égalité & Réconciliation, which frequently relays his writings and sells his works, several of which have been published by Kontre Kulture, the association’s publishing house. Hindi also hosts the programme, ‘’La marche du monde’’ on ERFM, a platform owned by Alain Soral.
Youssef Hindi is regularly seen in company of other far-right figures supporting the Catholic and extreme right association Civitas. Furthermore, he denounced Assa Traoré - the sister of Adama Traoré, who died in French police custody in 2016, and a leader of Committee for Justice and Truth for Adama – as “the umpteenth product of the old marriage between the Jewish bank and the far-left networks.”
For all the dangerous narratives that Youssef Hindi is spreading, LICRA asked retailer FNAC to explain why they are selling his books, contributing to the unsafety of Jewish people in France. FNAC has not replied to LICRA’s concerns.
