A few years ago, I was offered to join the European socio-political movement DiEM25, founded by Greece's former economist and finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis. I knew that the charismatic professor was a serial provocateur who had fallen out with most of his friends on the Greek left, but I was fascinated by the very idea of a pan-European democratic and socialist movement inviting members from around the world. I joined, and even managed to select candidates for the European Parliament from all countries. The vision of European solidarity captured my heart.
Until this fall. On 8 October, the weekly newsletter arrived. "I don't blame Hamas," Varoufakis wrote, "but Europe, which nurtured it and enabled Israel's apartheid." Not a word about the horrific massacre. Not a word of participation in sorrow, astonishment at the power of evil, humanity – all values that are supposed to be the lifeblood of the left.
At the same time, I revoked my membership in the movement. A week later, I signed a declaration initiated by Jewish and Arab writers, intellectuals and academics, and peace activists from Israel for leftists around the world, and sent it to the movement's leadership.
"We, who have fought for peace, justice and equality all our lives," the statement said, "are pained and concerned by the inappropriate responses from progressives in Europe and the United States, reflecting a disturbing trend in left-wing political culture around the world."
Colonialism isn't everything
What is really happening to the left? All attempts to explain this phenomenon – which manifests itself particularly sickeningly in prestigious universities in the United States, but no less so among certain politicians and activists in Europe – seek the roots of hatred of Israel in international political elements and in falling in love with postcolonial and multicultural theories, which have turned from legitimate discussion to shallow incitement, and on this festive occasion have also awakened the monster of denied anti-Semitism.
There is a great deal of truth in this explanation, but it is lacking. Postcolonial theories have indeed transformed in progressive realms from academic debate into a ridiculous spectacle of ignorance and outright beatings for past sins, on the faces of others, but also with embarrassing self-purification (such as actress Susan Sarandon, who described herself as "having obtained her privilege by violent force" in order to buy the dubious right to slam all Jews who are wealthy white colonialists). Much of the vibrant hatred for Israel – seen by many as the last colonial state of the 21st century – does echo this trend. But that's not all.
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The postcolonial debate attests to a gross lack of understanding of reality. The West Bank is not a colony of Israel – it was conquered in war. Even those who believe, like me, that the only solution to the conflict is a peace agreement and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, knows that there is no connection between historical European colonialism and our story. The fact that Varoufakis relies solely on Ilan Pappe's negligent narrative thesis that Zionism deliberately cleansed the Palestinian people beginning in the late 19th century is embarrassing.
As sarcastic as it sounds, Israel's catastrophe and the war that followed seem to have awakened the global left, providing it with an excuse to lift its head above the swamp of irrelevance it has long been wallowing in. After all, never have left-wing parties been so weak and influential, especially in the face of a growing wave of right-wing populism that has snatched away the most well-worn slogans and succeeded in attracting the same masses that once crowded behind red flags, and today call for the expulsion of immigrants and the deep state ruled by real or invented elites.
Radicals here and there
This process is confusing, because the right is undergoing identical processes, which turn the two camps into a mirror image: instead of conservatism and nationalism, the leaders of the new right in Europe propose low populism, Islamophobia, racism, and here and there anti-Semitism and even Holocaust denial. In some European countries, it is difficult to distinguish between the extreme right and the radical left. Both are based on hatred: it's toward women and homosexuals, and it's toward strangers. It's toward Muslims, and it's toward America and Israel. It's toward the European Union, which "won't tell us how to live," and it's toward that union "because it's controlled by capitalists."
But as the right conquers more and more audiences and governments, the European left is steadily losing its electorate. The large social democratic parties that once headed states have been almost completely wiped out, replaced by semi-liberal "centrist" movements, depleted of principles and values, led by former bankers and media stars turned politicians. Combed and neatly made up and surrounded by bands of publicists and quick spokespeople, they recite hollow messages in front of television cameras and tweet, instead of running government ministries, studying the real problems of the country and listening to the plight of real people.
From the defeated left, on the other hand, radical crumbs have arisen, battered and outdated or empty and populist, and they function very badly as an opposition and offer no real alternative.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, Photo: AP
In this reality, which is gradually paralyzing European politics and in fact weakening Western democracies to an alarming degree, Greece stands out as a particularly interesting case. The ruling party, once a classic conservative party, functions under the liberal Kyriakos Mitsotakis as a quintessential centrist party, and in many areas it even fosters traditional welfare policies that fit the definitions of social democracy, especially since the COVID-19 period (and under the influence and strong support of Angela Merkel, who expressed deep regret for the pressure exerted on Greece during the terrible economic crisis and understood its dangerous political consequences), and then in the face of natural disasters – fires and floods – and the need to recover the country's economy and bring it to rapid growth.
On the other hand, Syriza – the radical leftist coalition formed by Alexis Tsipras in 2004 and led to victory in 2015 – has failed to rise. Vice versa. As Mitsotakis' "handsome democracy" grew stronger, so did Syriza, and in the last election crashed. A similar process took place for PASOK, the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Party, which won only a few mandates. Tsipras accepted responsibility for the failure and resigned. Papandreou, also a former prime minister, tried to run again for the leadership of the party on the eve of the last election, but lost and walked off the stage.
The only one that has maintained its small but stable power is the Communist Party. Founded in 1918 under the leadership of Abraham Ben Aroya, outlawed in 1936, it has been persecuted ever since, although during World War II it led the illustrious anti-Nazi underground and saved many Jews, and was legal again only 50 years ago. The KKE is the most conservative communist party in the world, and its positions are very rigid. No wonder, then, that its activists have now led the demonstrations against Israel. The slogan "Free Palestine" has been heard there since the 70s. Nothing has changed.
Meteor in the sky of the Greek left
What has changed is the progressive left, which purported to speak a new language. Varoufakis, who was sharply criticized in response to his statement, produced a lengthy article this week in which he answers questions that he says "have been asked a lot lately." Asked whether he does not condemn Hamas as a murderous terrorist organization, he replies: "A terrorist in the eyes of one is a freedom fighter in the eyes of the other," citing examples such as Yitzhak Shamir and Nelson Mandela. Nothing less.
Presumably, the embarrassing arguments of a former shining but short-lived star on the left express more than anything else helplessness in the face of the spectacular failure he and his party suffered in the last elections. And now, on the ruins of this trivial left, a new star has suddenly emerged: Stefanos Keselakis – a smiling and handsome young man, openly gay, born in Greece in 1988, immigrated with his parents to the United States at the age of 15, excelled at the University of Pennsylvania, excelled in business and joined President Biden's campaign – went straight back to the internal elections in Syriza, which were held shortly after the debacle. With the enthusiastic support of Tsipras, himself a revered young and charming former star, Keselakis managed to win an impressive majority in the second round of internal elections.
, Photo: EPA
The choice caused an unprecedented uproar. The surprised press did not find suitable words to describe the phenomenon. He speaks English excellently! Some delighted him, while others mocked him as just a model. "It shouldn't have surprised anyone," says S., a former Syriza MP who supported Kaslakis, with a smile. "People wanted a new face, someone who brought moderate, up-to-date messages." S. admits that the desire to change horses at any cost can be dangerous, and agrees that it is difficult to know whether Kaslakis will succeed in realizing his plan to create a new, moderate, liberal and less fixed left, and that it is even more difficult to understand whether the new star is a real politician or just an image.
One thing is already clear: the new chairman of Syriza has not said a single word about the Middle East conflict. Perhaps because at this moment he is mainly busy mending the fragments of his crashing party and stopping the galloping wave of departures of key party figures, especially from the more socialist wing. It is no coincidence that he wants to add PASUK to a new moderate left-wing coalition. In light of the turmoil in his party, PASOK regained strength in the polls, and this week the political map suddenly looked the same as it did before the economic crisis: two large parties, one right and one left. The elections are still far away, but in politics, as we know, anything is possible.
"The left is weakening," S. says, "but it still has a stable base. We have a very strong syndicate that brings together all the labor organizations in the economy, we are deeply rooted in the neighborhoods and are represented quite well in the municipalities. Even the choice of PASOK's candidate for mayor of Athens is significant."
Does the Greek left have ties to sister parties in other countries – France, for example? Asked. "With the German Linke party, yes," S. replied, "but France? You mean Mélenchon? Well, I wouldn't define it as 'left.'"
Will we always have Paris?
Indeed, French politics is perhaps the ultimate representation of the ideological, social and cultural chaos of our time. Two weeks ago, this confusion was clearly reflected in the events surrounding the big march against anti-Semitism in Paris and other cities across the country. The initiators of the march, President of the National Assembly Yael Baron-Pive and President of the Senate Gérard Larcher, were pleasantly surprised by the impressive response of senior politicians, including former prime ministers and ministers, to their call. But Baron-Pibe, representing Macron's centrist party, did not want to see Marine Le Pen in the front row, as did the heads of Jewish peace organizations and the Jewish-Muslim organization SOS Racism, which fights racism.
Le Pen and her people did not give up on participating in the march, but they marched behind and claimed that they were not anti-Semites at all. The fact is, lots of Jews vote for us, they said. Unfortunately, they are right. Many Jews in France are willing to ignore the disguised and sometimes overt anti-Semitism of the leaders of the RN (National Union) in the name of migrant hatred, especially the blatant hatred of Muslims that is the party's motto.
Daniel Cohen-Bandit, Photo: AP
And who was conspicuous by his absence at the demonstration? LE PEN'S SIAMESE TWIN, LA FRANCE INSUMISE PARTY CHAIRMAN, JEAN-LUC MELENCHON. A large proportion of voters for this party, which defines itself as radical left, once voted for Le Pen, especially during the time of Le Pen Sr., who was far less rude and sophisticated than his daughter and who was not afraid to assert that concentration camps were a wild invention of the Jews.
The French, belittling the electoral power of this thug of words, woke up the day after a sleepy election 23 years ago to find that he had defeated Social Democrat Lionel Jospin in the presidential race. In the second round, all the liberals and leftists who did not want to go to the polls in the first round had to keep their noses shut and vote for the hated right-wing Jacques Chirac, provided that the racist nightmare did not reach the Elysee Palace. Only later did France's lazy press discover what it should have investigated much earlier: that the lower classes, traditional left-wing voters, had migrated to the far right.
In recent years they have migrated back, but instead of a social-democratic and communist left, they preferred the populist Mélenchon, who is full of hatred for the republic and society in which they live.
Many Jews, therefore, support Marine Le Pen, who claims that she is "merely for the republic and against the Islamic takeover" (and in fact is a devout Catholic, even ignoring the fact that France's Muslim minority does not exceed 4% of the population), while about 80% of Arabs support Mélenchon and his hate speech against the state, the United States and Biden and Israel, and without explicitly saying so – also against the Jews. As of last October, all masks were dropped, and senior members of the party made explicit anti-Semitic statements without any hesitation.
Longing for Albert Camus
There are those who see things clearly. In an interview with Le Point newspaper on October 24, Daniel Cohen-Bandit, perhaps the most outspoken symbol of the French left, said Mélenchon was "igniting a fire of lies." Crowds of demonstrators took to the streets after Cohen-Bandit during the 1968 student uprising, carrying signs saying "I am a German Jew" following then-President de Gaulle's unfortunate statement: "Who is this German Jew who is causing riots?" It wasn't until 2015 that he was restored to his French citizenship, which had been revoked at the time for "disturbing public order," but he prefers to stay in Frankfurt.
"Between justice and my mother, I choose my mother." Algerian-born French philosopher and writer Albert Camus, photo: GettyImages
"Mélenchon," he says, "accused the president of the National Assembly of acting in the service of the State of Israel to promote genocide against the Palestinians. This outrageous lie is a cynical use of tragic events to ingratiate itself with the Muslim public. These are bad days. We live in complete darkness that doesn't notice any nuances. Of course, I support independence for the Palestinians, but what does it have to do with criminal terrorism, and what does all this have to do with hatred of Jews?"
The left Cohen-Bandit hopes for is Albert Camus's, not Jean-Paul Sartre's. He is referring, of course, to Camus's statement: "I have always condemned terrorism that acts blindly and may strike my mother... I believe in justice, but between justice and my mother, I choose my mother." He means wisdom and open-mindedness, and most of all, humanity.
But as mentioned, humanity cannot exist where populism masquerading as the left bases its power on hate speech, competing with the far right.
Worse, the "old" European left was engaged in a fascinating intellectual debate at the time, while genuinely caring about building society. This was impressively reflected in the struggle against the Nazis during World War II, and in the establishment of welfare states throughout Europe after the war. This is particularly memorable for the Labour government in Britain, which in 1946 established the National Health Service, Post Office and Railways, and provided public housing for all.
The new populist "left," on the other hand, is identity and sectoral. It incites minorities against each other at home, uses every conflict outside to fan hatred, and grows stronger on the backs of those weak without a vision to rescue them from their plight.
And perhaps this is the simplest and most depressing answer to the question of what happened to the European left after October 7: it is simply clinging to our disaster in order to rise a little, because it has nothing else to offer and nothing else to say. The good news is, as mentioned, that we are just an excuse. And any excuse, as we know, is temporary.
And now, in the Exarchia neighborhood of Athens, Palestine has apparently already been exhausted. Fact: This week they have already resumed protesting against Airbnb, which raises rents, and against the cost of living.
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