{"id":485380,"date":"2025-10-09T10:10:53","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T10:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/485380\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T10:10:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T10:10:53","slug":"journalist-explores-frances-eerily-telling-response-to-its-citizens-murders-on-oct-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/485380\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalist explores France’s eerily telling response to its citizens’ murders on Oct. 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS \u2014 As Israel marks the second anniversary of the deadliest day in its history, the commemoration will also hit close to home for many in France, whose citizens, after Israelis, suffered the greatest losses in the October 7, 2023, massacre.<\/p>\n

Of some 1,200 people slaughtered in the carnage, 48 were French nationals. Many more were among the 251 kidnapped and thousands wounded.<\/p>\n

For Paris journalist Rachel Binhas, whose book about October 7 is devoted to the French victims and her country\u2019s response to the epochal disaster, the anniversary will be no ordinary day.<\/p>\n

\u201cOctober 7 was not just an Israeli event,\u201d Binhas told The Times of Israel during an interview at a Paris caf\u00e9 on Rue Mouffetard, one of the city\u2019s oldest streets. \u201cIt was also a French event which, to this day, is felt by many people in France, directly and indirectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her French-language book, \u201cVictimes fran\u00e7aises du Hamas: Leur histoire, notre silence\u201d (\u201cFrench Victims of Hamas: Their Story, Our Silence\u201d), makes for a sobering read. Far more than a simple chronicle, its three sections \u2014 \u201cOur Victims, Their Story\u201d; \u201cThe Effects of October 7 in France\u201d; and \u201cA France without Jews?\u201d \u2014 include detailed portraits of seven French victims, retracing their steps in the hours leading up to the Hamas massacre. Alongside is heart-wrenching testimony from the victims\u2019 families, analysis of French society and questions about surging antisemitism.<\/p>\n

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Collectively, the victims and their families represent French Jewry, writ large. They include secular, religious, Ashkenazi, Sephardic, progressive and conservative \u2014 some still strongly linked to France, others not. Tragically ironic, some had left France due to rising antisemitism, thinking they would be safer in Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy book is a way of paying homage to the French victims,\u201d Binhas says. \u201cIt\u2019s also to preserve their memory and help ensure their story isn\u2019t forgotten while exploring how so much of French society responded with deafening silence and what it means for French Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given how many of those killed on October 7 had French citizenship, Binhas points out that it represents the fourth most murderous terrorist attack involving French nationals. As such, she expected the massacre\u2019s French victims to figure more prominently in French consciousness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI quickly realized, and I wasn\u2019t the only one to notice, that the French victims of October 7, victims in the broadest sense of the word, meaning not only those killed but also those kidnapped and wounded, were surprisingly receiving little attention in French media, in the cultural sphere and French society in general,\u201d says Binhas. \u201cConcerning the hostages, it was in sharp contrast to how the country mobilized in previous cases of French citizens kidnapped abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight French citizens were among those kidnapped during Hamas\u2019s terrorist onslaught. Eventually, five were released alive, concluding with Ofer Kalderon\u2019s freedom<\/a> last February after 484 days in Gaza. The bodies of the three killed in captivity were returned to Israel, the last of whom was Ohad Yahalomi<\/a>, last February.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Demonstrators gather to call for the freeing of the hostages held in Gaza since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, terrorist onslaught on Israel, at the Trocad\u00e9ro esplanade with the Eiffel Tower in the background in Paris, on April 7, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Binhas cites how France responded to the plight of Jean-Paul Kauffmann in Lebanon in 1985, Ingrid Betancourt in Colombia in 2002 and Didier Francois in Syria in 2013, for whom there were numerous solidarity actions, including daily reminders on nightly newscasts, and their portraits displayed on municipal buildings around the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile in captivity, these former hostages had a real presence in the public space, in the media and in the consciousness of French people,\u201d adds Binhas. \u201cI saw the difference when I\u2019d ask people around me, if they knew, if not the names, at least the number of French hostages that Hamas was holding in Gaza. Most had no idea there were even French hostages. It was this invisibility, this lack of awareness and sometimes just indifference that helped drive me to write the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

People walk past a billboard bearing a message addressed to French President Emanuel Macron in Tel Aviv on November 21, 2023, demanding the release of Israelis held hostage in Gaza since the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Published last fall, it began as an article Binhas composed for the weekly magazine Marianne, where she\u2019s a staff writer. A French publisher, \u00c9ditions de l\u2019Observatoire, then asked her if she would do a book on the subject as part of its interest in Jewish-related issues in France. This year, it also published \u201cFrancaise, juive et alors\u201d (\u201cFrench, Jewish, and So What?\u201d) by Shannon Seban<\/a>, which focuses on contemporary antisemitism in France.<\/p>\n

Jews are people, too?<\/p>\n

Binhas remains deeply troubled by how many of her compatriots reacted to the brutal mass murder of Israelis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the weeks following October 7, I noticed that in France most people seemed to have trouble showing some degree of compassion for Israel, and to suspend even temporarily their political views about the Middle East,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt was as if the Jewish victims of October 7 and their loved ones weren\u2019t entitled to empathy or sympathy. It seemed Israelis and Jews didn\u2019t merit the status of genuine victims because they were Jewish.\u201d<\/p>\n

In many cases, hate was evident.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we saw instead in France was an explosion of antisemitic acts,\u201d she adds. \u201cThis disappointing response said something about France. What was the reaction of those in politics, culture, media and sports? I wanted to analyze that in the book along with telling the stories of the French victims themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Footage shows the Paris offices of El Al vandalized with red paint and pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel graffiti, August 7, 2025. (Theo Wargnier\/Jeremy Martin\/AFPTV\/AFP)<\/p>\n

For all her criticism of how many in France responded, Binhas acknowledges actions by the national government that contrasted with most other areas of French life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe French government has done everything that was in its power to come to the aid of the French families of the October 7 victims,\u201d she writes early in the book. \u201cFrom the Foreign Ministry to the Elys\u00e9e Palace, the mobilization was total, taking sometimes unexpected forms, such as doing right after the fact to arrange French citizenship for certain victims who had delayed the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron arrive to host a ceremony to pay tribute to the French victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas atrocities, at the Invalides memorial complex in Paris, on February 7, 2024. (Photo by GONZALO FUENTES \/ POOL \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

She also cites the highly moving memorial event that French President Emmanuel Macron presided over in Paris on February 7, 2024. At the outdoor ceremonial tribute, where Republican guards held large photos of all the French victims, including the then-hostages, Macron called October 7 the \u201cbiggest antisemitic massacre of our century\u201d and \u201cbarbarism\u2026 fed by antisemitism.\u201d Many of the family members were flown to the ceremony at the government\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n

Under Macron\u2019s leadership, France has supported efforts to release the hostages. He himself has met multiple times with hostage families, as recently as this month in Paris.<\/p>\n

\u2018I could taste the poison of antisemitism\u2019<\/p>\n

As part of her research, Binhas went to Israel several times to interview families whose loved ones were killed, kidnapped or wounded during the Hamas atrocities. What victims\u2019 relatives told her, amid their pain, forms the first half of the book, by far its most poignant part.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the challenges was getting families to speak to me without me being insistent,\u201d says Binhas. \u201cI wanted to be sensitive to their situation. People were in a particular moment in their mourning. Some felt the need to speak, others didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other challenges arose later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was working on the book amid a sharp rise in antisemitism in France,\u201d says Binhas. \u201cI felt it especially when the book came out and I was promoting it. There were some very hard reactions. I could taste the poison of antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018French Victims of Hamas,\u2019 by Rachel Binhas. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

Some of it came from colleagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI received comments from certain journalists that \u2014 and I say this diplomatically \u2014 were awkward,\u201d she adds. \u201cSome media outlets deliberately ignored the subject of the book because it didn\u2019t correspond to their perspective. Certain bookstores were no better, either refusing to stock it or relegating it to the back of their stores.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bias and intimidation weren\u2019t relegated to live interactions, Binhas says.<\/p>\n

\u201cA person who ordered the book online told me it arrived with comments scrawled in it, such as \u2018Free Palestine,\u2019 on the page where I list the names of the French killed on October 7,\u201d she says. \u201cAll this without mentioning all the invectives, insults and threats of violence I received on social media \u2014 and it still continues to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite this, Binhas remains undaunted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not so much fear I feel as anger,\u201d she says. \u201cIt pushes me. Of course, you never know what can happen. People say there\u2019s always a risk that a crazy or unbalanced person will find the current [antisemitic] climate auspicious to do something dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Binhas has observed in France since October 7 makes her more concerned for her Jewish compatriots.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current reality doesn\u2019t lend itself to optimism,\u201d says Binhas. \u201cYou need to be lucid. I sometimes see myself as an informed optimist, but I agree with pessimists on several things not evolving in a good direction, especially relating to Jews. We see something disturbing settling in and taking hold.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Protestors chant and wave flags as they demonstrate in support of convicted Lebanese terrorist Georges Abdallah ahead of the Paris Court of Appeal\u2019s decision on his release, in Toulouse, southwestern France, on July 14, 2025. (Valentine CHAPUIS \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

For Binhas, that there\u2019s no state antisemitism provides some solace amid concerns it\u2019s becoming normalized elsewhere in French society.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince October 7, we\u2019ve seen an antisemitism we had thought forgotten and relegated to the margins of society woken up again,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt\u2019s gaining momentum with a rhetoric often validated politically by Jean-Luc M\u00e9lonchon\u2019s [left-wing] France Unbound party. Its origins may be deeply rooted, but its current form is new.\u201d<\/p>\n

The impact is troubling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis antisemitism has instilled a certain fear in many French Jews, among whom you see an \u2018invisibilization\u2019 of practices in the name of safety and security,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen this hiding of one\u2019s Jewish identity among people I know. Changing one\u2019s name on Uber and delivery platforms so it won\u2019t look Jewish, removing the mezuzah on one\u2019s door,\u201d she says. \u201cFew Jews would say this is paranoia, especially as we know sometimes antisemitism goes from the verbal to physical acts, and that\u2019s a strong reality in France now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS \u2014 As Israel marks the second anniversary of the deadliest day in its history, the commemoration will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-485380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115343674485883625","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}