A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #371 - Spotlight - Yadan Law: A Tactical Withdrawal, Let's Keep the Pressure On (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

On April 16, the government announced the withdrawal of the Yadan bill, 
but also its intention to reintroduce an identical bill within a few 
months. A tactical retreat, this postponement of the law demonstrates 
that the struggle and popular pressure are paying off against attempts 
to silence criticism of Zionism. But let's not declare victory too soon, 
and let's not give up! The government remains determined to repress 
solidarity with Palestine, and above all, France continues to support 
the Zionist state in its colonial expansion in the West Bank, Gaza, 
Syria, and Lebanon.

The bill "against renewed forms of antisemitism" will therefore not be 
passed by the National Assembly. Sponsored by Caroline Yadan, a member 
of parliament representing French citizens living abroad and a 
caricature of the Israeli state, the bill reflected its promoter. The 
law, which does not hesitate to compare Palestinians to mosquitoes[1], 
aimed to prohibit the presentation of acts recognized as "terrorist" by 
the State as a form of resistance, to consider comparisons between the 
Holocaust and other genocides as a form of relativism, and to prohibit 
calls for the "destruction or denial" of a State recognized by the 
French Republic. Some of these provisions had already been softened to 
follow the recommendations of the Council of State, but the law remained 
a major attack.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITS OF MASSIVE MOBILIZATION
The Yadan Law was proposed as the racist and colonial nature of the 
Zionist State became increasingly difficult to deny. It was announced as 
Israel launched a war of aggression against Iran, then against Lebanon, 
and while the genocide continued in Gaza and the abuses of settlers and 
the army in the West Bank intensified. On March 30, the Knesset voted 
for the death penalty for Palestinians only, continuing the torture 
system implemented by the Israeli state, both inside and outside its 
prisons[2].

Significant opposition quickly organized. A petition launched on the 
National Assembly's website demanding a parliamentary debate on the 
withdrawal of the Yadan Law quickly reached 700,000 signatures... which 
did not prevent parliamentarians from refusing to consider it. 
Theoretically, petitions launched on the National Assembly's website can 
trigger a parliamentary debate when they reach 500,000 signatures, but 
in reality, the National Assembly is under no obligation to put them on 
the agenda. This mechanism reveals itself for what it is: a charade, 
which allows the illusion of "citizen participation" to be maintained at 
little cost.

The Yadan Law, officially titled "Bill to Combat Renewed Forms of 
Antisemitism," is a French legislative text introduced by Macronist MP 
Caroline Yadan, aimed at prohibiting any criticism of the policies 
pursued by the Israeli far-right in power.

Jeanne Menjoulet
However, this postponement also reveals something else: that popular 
pressure, even when expressed through an institutional mechanism 
designed to curb it, is effective. The massive mobilization has forced 
each political group to confront its responsibilities: the despicable 
Socialist Party, two of whose MPs had nonetheless signed the bill, 
finally announced its opposition. The government itself, citing 
parliamentary obstruction by La France Insoumise, ultimately withdrew 
the bill.

A MIXED VICTORY
So, have we won? The MPs from La France Insoumise were quick to declare 
victory the day after the bill's withdrawal. Partly with good reason, 
since we are buying time. But we must not let our guard down. Repression 
didn't need the Yadan Law to target supporters of the Palestinian people.

The search of Rima Hassan's home is a striking example. On Thursday, 
April 2, the MEP was taken into custody for "apology for terrorism," a 
liberty-curbing offense widely used to suppress solidarity with the 
Palestinian people. During her detention, leaks were orchestrated to the 
press, and numerous articles reported the alleged presence of synthetic 
drugs in her bag-information denied a few days later. On April 16, 
Mediapart even revealed that the MEP had been tracked by the police: her 
personal files were examined and all her movements since January were 
traced, violating both her privacy and her parliamentary activities[3].

This case is not isolated: the numerous arrests for "apology for 
terrorism" over the past two and a half years demonstrate the state's 
determination to repress solidarity with Palestine and the anti-racist 
movement. Disproportionate police measures, aimed at intimidation, have 
been commonplace: for example, the raid on the Jewish Union for Peace 
and the freezing of Omar Alsoumi's assets.

We can never rely on bourgeois parliamentary institutions; only a mass 
popular movement can force the government to back down from its 
criminalization of solidarity with Palestine.

FRENCH MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
The Yadan Law would have provided a legal pretext for accelerating and 
systematizing repression, following the model of Italy or Germany, which 
have already adopted laws criminalizing anti-Zionism[4]. The government 
wants France to follow suit and is already proposing that all 
parliamentary forces work together to draft a new law with the same 
objectives. Far from curbing antisemitism, this judicial and police 
arsenal is actually aimed at attacking the social movement and political 
opposition. It is a continuation of the repressive policies pursued by 
the government: expulsions of imams, dissolution of Muslim associations 
and left-wing organizations... Using the "fight against antisemitism" to 
justify this political agenda only endangers Jews by associating them 
with racist policies and France's complicity with Zionism.

AN AGGRAVATING FACTOR IN FASCIZATION
Support for Israel is once again proving to be a major accelerator of 
France's fascization. As Césaire had already demonstrated in 1950 in his 
Discourse on Colonialism, the colonialism that Europe commits or 
supports can only lead to its "brutalization." Support for Israel's 
genocidal policies has unleashed a massive wave of racist rhetoric and 
provided a ready-made pretext for the repression of political 
opposition, while Israel continues to sell its technologies of 
repression and surveillance, arguing that they have proven effective 
against Palestinians[5].

However, the government's repressive ferocity also reveals its fear of 
solidarity with Palestine. Its retreat on the Yadan Law is part of a 
series of partial, but very real, victories at the European level. On 
March 31, Israel announced the suspension of its arms purchases from 
France, preferring to turn to more reliable allies. The decision was 
motivated in particular by the cancellation of Israeli booths at arms 
fairs, achieved thanks to popular mobilization. On April 14, the 
far-right Italian government announced the suspension of its defense 
agreement with Israel, following mass social movements against the 
genocide. These decisions are insufficient, and their actual 
implementation must be monitored; but they show that mobilization can 
pay off, and that even fanatical supporters of Israel can be forced to 
reduce their complicity with the genocide. It is up to us to intensify 
the struggle until Palestine and the entire region are liberated from 
Zionist domination. Repression will not silence us!

Danielle (UCL Lyon)

Submit

[1]On X, tweets from February 21, July 14, and August 27, 2024.

[2]"Genocide in Palestine: Israel has developed a concentration camp 
system," Alternative libertaire no. 351, July-August 2024.

[3]David Perrotin, "Rima Hassan's detention: how the police tracked the 
MEP," Mediapart, April 16, 2026.

[4]Leandros Fischer, "'The antifascism of fools': on the function of the 
current 'anti-Semitic witch hunt' in Germany," Against Anti-Semitism and 
Its Instrumentalizations, La Fabrique, 2024, pp. 87-116.

[5]Sarah Bénichou, Simon Mauvieux, Mathieu Rigouste, "Elnet, at the 
service of the Israeli war business", Orient XXI, March 9, 2026.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Loi-Yadan-Un-retrait-tactique-maintenons-la-pression
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en