French Society Faces Growing Violence and Antisemitism, Echoing Weimar Era Concerns

A recent incident in Marseille, where a masked individual used a flamethrower on a young woman at a bus stop, highlights a growing normalization of violence in France, according to author Steve Belhassen. What began as student protests over teacher shortages and educational conditions has escalated into urban unrest, with 1,949 arrests on a single Thursday and over 5,000 in a week. School principals and police officers have been injured, schools set ablaze, and hundreds of high schools closed. In Carpentras, protesters were heard chanting antisemitic slogans, "We burned Israel, who are the Jews? We trample them."

Belhassen draws parallels between current French societal trends and the Weimar Republic, cautioning against direct comparisons but noting concerning similarities. He points to France's projected immigrant population reaching 11.6% by 2025, with descendants of immigrants forming a significant portion of younger demographics. The country faces substantial economic challenges, with public debt nearing 120% of GDP and a deficit of 5.4%, while Israel, despite a long war, maintains strong foreign exchange reserves.

The political landscape is described as increasingly polarized, with the centrist Macronist movement shrinking, Jean-Luc Mélenchon leveraging new demographics, and the right capitalizing on associated anxieties. This polarization is seen as the central feature of French politics approaching 2027.

Antisemitic incidents in France have significantly increased, rising from an average of 36 per month in 2022 to approximately 90 per month in the first half of 2026, a two-and-a-half-fold increase for a community representing less than 1% of the population. Belhassen argues that while France in 2026 is not the Weimar Republic and not on the path to 1933, the historical pattern shows that Jewish communities are often disproportionately affected when such dynamics of debt, eroding central authority, rising extremism, and street violence emerge. He concludes that while France has not reached that point, the trajectory is concerningly set.