France’s chief rabbi warned French Jews to leave France after a far-left pro-Islamist party won a parliamentary majority.
President Macron’s decision to call a snap election has backfired – resulting in more far right and far left MPs being elected, and strengthening the hand of a far left leader who has failed to condemn Hamas.
In the first round of voting in the general election on 30 June, the right wing party National Rally (RN) topped the polls. RN’s leader, Marine Le Pen, has managed to distance herself from her notorious late father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who described the Nazi death camps as a ‘detail’. His daughter has supported Israel and enjoyed the support of rural French people who are appalled at the strong Islamist presence in cities.
Macron plotted to keep RN out of power by cutting a deal between his own centrist party, Renaissance, and far left groups, which involved 200 centrist and left-wing candidates being dropped in specific regions, concentrating the left-wing/centrist vote into one option for voters.
The plot worked, but instead of Macron’s party coming out on top, the far-left pro-Islamist New Popular Front (NPF) secured the most parliamentary seats, knocking Renaissance into second place and RN into third – even though RN secured more votes than either of the other groups.
As a result, no party has an outright majority, and a power struggle began, with the prospect of some of the NPF’s extreme policies being accepted in order to form a government.
France’s election results:
FP (socialist): 7m votes – 180 seats.
Macron’s party: 6.6m votes – 159 seats.
RN (“far-right”): 10.1m votes – 142 seats.
Although France has two rounds of voting, the system is similar to the UK’s “first past the post”, which means that although Le Pen won more votes, Macron’s conspiring with the socialists resulted in fewer seats for the RN.
Allister Heath, writing in the Daily Telegraph (20 June), described the NPF as “a miserable alliance of the extreme Left, socialists, communists, greens and assorted misfits” and warned that given the chance it would “introduce gender self-ID, liberalise immigration, slap an embargo on arms sales to Israel and back the scandalous international court cases against the Jewish state. Their manifesto is not just dementedly woke and Israelophobic but would bankrupt France.”
The main leader of the radical left has been compared to Jeremy Corbyn
The leftists and antisemitic groups rioted when they lost in the first round of votes, and rioted again when they won. According to Israeli Bible teacher Amir Tsarfati (a Messianic Jew): “The victory rally for the new French government has more Palestinian flags than French flags… Leftists gathered at the Place de République in Paris, vandalised a national monument with Antifa symbols” and some “assaulted responding police”.
Over 30,000 riot police had to be deployed across France. The 73-year-old Mayor of Limoges, Émile Roger Lombertie, was beaten up by far-left activists after he told them to put out a fire they had started.
France’s chief rabbi warned Jews that they had no future in France shortly after the election result was known.
“The victory rally has more Palestinian flags than French flags”
The main leader of the radical left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, has been compared to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and like him has previously been accused of antisemitism. He has promised to recognise the Palestinian state, condemned Israel’s Gaza operation as ‘genocide’ and refused to call Hamas a terror group.
Over 30,000 riot police had to be deployed across France
French Protestants were unenthusiastic about the RN and the far left taking power. Before the election, three bodies representing Protestants and evangelicals issued statements warning against extremism.
The Protestant Federation of France (FPF), representing more than 500 communities, organisations, and movements from several denominations, argued that the French would be “trapped in a Cornelian choice between the racism of the far-right and the antisemitism of the far-left.”
GERMANY
New citizens must support Jews and Israel
New immigrants to Germany seeking citizenship will now be required to affirm that they accept Israel’s right to exist, and to tolerate the presence of Jews in the country, especially in the light of Germany’s Nazi
past.
Publicly calling for Israel’s destruction is verboten
They will need to know that publicly calling for Israel’s destruction is verboten, which should ban the kind of chants of “From the river to the sea…” that have been heard in Britain’s pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
In response to increasing antisemitism, Germany’s Interior Ministry announced in June that it has modified the naturalisation process for gaining German citizenship, with the goal of speeding it up and imposing tighter conditions. Candidates for citizenship will find two new questions in their application exam which refer to “Germany’s special historical responsibility for the National Socialist unjust regime and its consequences, especially for the protection of Jewish life.”
One of the new questions asks prospective citizens: “Which action relating to the State of Israel is forbidden in Germany?”
The correct answer is “Publicly calling for the destruction of Israel.”
USA
Government accused of ‘bullying’ pro-life states
Since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe v Wade legislation legalising federal abortion, different states have passed pro-life legislation.
But the Biden administration has been trying different avenues to circumvent the law within those states.
The letter pressurises medics into providing abortions
Recently the government has sent a letter to doctors and health associations that pressurises medics into providing abortions in certain circumstances, that would override their state’s abortion restrictions.
The letter ‘reminds’ the authorities of a 40-year-old federal law that requires almost all emergency rooms — any financed by Medicare — to perform abortions when necessary for a pregnant woman’s health.
The Family Research Council’s Meg Kilgannon pointed out that no state’s pro-life law endangers women’s lives, and accused the Democrat President of using “every tool in the toolbox, whether it’s legal or not, to push an abortion agenda”. She added that everyone wants to see good treatment for women but the Government wants “to make sure that she’s ‘treated’ by giving her an abortion”.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
OVER 300,000 BAPTISED
Astonishing numbers of people are being baptised in Papua New Guinea, including an estimated 300,000 people in the month of May alone.
Many prisoners had found Christ
Faithwire reports that the baptisms resulted from a two week national outreach called PNG for Christ led by Pastor Ted Wilson, president of the Seventh Day Adventist world church, and his wife, Nancy, who spoke at various events around the country.
A 19 May statement by Wilson reported that “278,369 people have been baptised so far in ‘PNG for Christ’ with only about 52 per cent of the over 2000 sites reporting. This is a miracle of God! Many more will be reported.”
It was later stated that the total surpassed 300,000 and that drug barons had burnt their marijuana crops, many prisoners had found Christ, and whole villages had become Adventist.
Over 2,000 events took place, involving almost 300 speakers.
UKRAINE
UK evangelist leads day of prayer in Kyiv
The ministry of veteran UK evangelist David Hathaway organised the seventh Day of Prayer for Ukraine in Kyiv on 22 June – and 8,000 people attended.
Even as prayer was taking place, a power cut or incoming missile attack could have closed the meeting at any moment, but the meeting was not interrupted.
Hathaway stated: “God has a plan for Ukraine, to use Ukraine for his glory. Ukraine, you will see the victory by the power of Jesus’ name.”
The event can be watched online at: youtube.com/live/w4ZTWodi2IA
POLAND
Government fines hospital for refusing abortion
Poland has lurched to the left since the former President of the EU’s European Council, Donald Tusk, was elected as Prime Minister last year, and it is now pushing a pro-abortion agenda.
The new government has fined one hospital, the Pabianice Medical Centre, 550,000 zl (approx £109,000) for refusing to carry out an abortion.
Poland’s Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna also declared that proceedings against two other medical facilities were taking place.
LifeSiteNews says the fine is “the first such case since Poland’s anti-life government introduced a bill to weaken protections for unborn children”.