Introduction
The French website Démocratie participative ("Participating in Democracy," Democratieparticipative.biz) is openly and proudly antisemitic, racist, and anti-LGBTQ, and a platform for aggressive populist sentiment against anyone not white, Christian, or straight unless they share its views. Thus, on October 18, 2018, the website called Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan – who is neither white nor Christian, but is a known antisemite – "honorable," in a article featuring a tweet by Farrakhan stating "I'm not an antisemite. I'm anti-Termite."[1]
Démocratie participative (DP) is not the only openly racist and antisemitic French website. Blanche Europe ("White Europe") is another, and "Viva Europa" is pro-Aryan. However, DP has lately managed to attract a sizeable audience because of its highly provocative current events commentary. All the site's contributors use pseudonyms; the most prolific and radical, who may also be the site's founder, is "Captain Harlock."
DP – "The most engaged site for freedom of expression"; The Daily Stormer.
DP circumvents France's prohibition on racist and antisemitic speech by noting prominently on its homepage that it is "owned by U.S. citizen David Johnson Jr." and that it is a "U.S. site in French protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America."
Similarity To Daily Stormer – And Daily Stormer-Recommended
DP is formatted almost identically to the U.S.-based white supremacist and neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer. Like the latter, DP calls for donations "in shekels," purports to be against violence, and features the disclaimer that it is "committed to peace and non-violence." (The Daily Stormer is, in turn, based on the World War II-era Nazi propaganda tool, the German antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer.) Also like the Daily Stormer, DP features pro-Nazi content, for example an image of Hitler identified as a "hero of human rights," and a sections titled "Race War." DP features a "racial guide to [French] cities" section as well as a videos section. While it does not include a "Jewish Problem" section like the Daily Stormer, it is pervaded with antisemitic motifs – even adding the Nazi "Jude" yellow star to photos of prominent Jews, or those it perceives as Jews, with whom it disagrees.
On March 15, 2017, the Daily Stormer posted an article titled "Meme War: New Daily Stormer-Style News Site Emerges in France" about DP. According to the article, DP began as a podcast "modeled on the alt-right model of mixing humor, memes and hardcore rhetoric while discussing the news" and mentioning that the article's author had "been on their show several times and they're quite good." "Now," the article added, " they’re starting up a news website inspired by the Stormer model, but adapted to France." It concluded: "So if any French bros are reading this – and I know some of you read the Daily Stormer – make sure to check out Democratieparticipative.biz as well as their entertaining podcast. Spread the word."[2]
"Now Totally Uncensorable!"
On July 17, 2018, DP announced that it was "now TOTALLY uncensorable" because it is "on the TOR network!!!" Noting that it had for months been urging its readers to access its network using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) or the TOR or Brave anonymizing browsers, so as to thwart "the Jewish occupation government" that "wants to censor DP in France," it provided readers with its new TOR Onion address.
Donate In "Shekels" Or Cryptocurrency
On its homepage, DP appeals for donations, as noted, "in shekels" as well as in cryptocurrency: "Jewish terrorists CRIF [Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions] and LICRA [France's International League against Racism and Antisemitism] and the U.S. want to destroy DP. To survive, we need shekels. Click here to send in BC (Bitcoin), ETH (Ethereum), or XMR (Monero)." It also has instructions for sending Bitcoin.
According to the French anti-fascist network Vigilances Isère Antifascisme, the DP website administrators attempt to conceal their identity by using the Russian social media platform Vkontakte (the Russian equivalent of Facebook) which is also accessible in French.[3] DP also changes its email contact address from time to time; at one time it was on the Russian mail.ru platform and it recently began using the encrypted ProtonMail platform.
Several complaints have been filed in France against the DP website, and the Paris Public Prosecutor has asked ISPs to block access to it. The court ruling is due on November 8, 2018.
Following are examples of posts published on Démocratie Participative, almost all of them by "Captain Harlock."
DP Adds Yellow Stars To Prominent Jewish Figures – Or Those It Perceives As Jewish
DP attaches Nazi yellow "Jude" stars to photos of French and other Jews whose positions it dislikes; the following are examples.
On October 17, 2018, Gabriel Attal became state secretary at the Education Ministry and reportedly the youngest member of the government under the French 5th Republic. According to DP, Attal is French president Emmanuel Macron's lover.
Caption: "Yid dick sucker Attal"
Marc Knobel, researcher at CRIF and its Director of Studies, has repeatedly notified authorities of antisemitism in France.
Caption: "CRIF Jewish terrorist Marc Knobel"
French comedienne Marie Benoliel was depicted with a stereotypical Jewish nose:
Above: "The repulsive kike Marie Benoliel calls Joan of Arc a whore in a [production] staged in Rouen." Below: "A yellow star for her, quickly!"
Former French prime minister Laurent Fabius (1984-6), finance minister (2000-2), and foreign minister (2012-16):
"The enemy of humanity in all his arrogance"
Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, was previously French finance minister (2012-14) and European affairs minister (1997-2002):
"The Hebrew Moscovici, serving the International Jewish bank, threatens Italy with economic annihilation if [Italian Interior Minister Matteo] Salvini does not surrender."
French lawyer Alain Jakubowicz is president of LICRA:
"Christ-killer Jakubowicz insists that Assad's chemical attacks are as real as Hitler's gas chambers"
Praising Holocaust Denier Robert Faurisson
DP marked the October 20, 2018 death of French academic and Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson, who following the 1990 passage of a French law outlawing Holocaust denial had been repeatedly prosecuted, convicted, and fined for his writings claiming that there was no systematic mass killing of Jews by Nazi Germany. In 2012, Faurisson had been awarded a prize for his "courage, resistance, and fighting spirit" in contesting the Holocaust by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; earlier, in 2008, he had become close to antisemitic French comedian Dieudonne, who had also been convicted of making antisemitic statements. DP wrote: "Heroic Robert Faurisson, after spending his whole life successfully fighting the Jewish lies, enters Paradise," with a photo of Faurisson in front of a poster of the far right antisemitic French paper Le Rivarol.
Caption: "His achievements can never be destroyed"
Another post featured Faurisson with the French antisemitic comedian Dieudonné. The title states: "The Jews demand the cyber genocide of African neo-Nazi [in this case, a positive label] Dieudonné after he commemorated his late 'friend' Robert Faurisson." It should be noted that Dieudonné, like Louis Farrakhan, has been "upgraded" by DP on account of his antisemitism – he is not referred to as a "negro," as other black people are by DP, but as an "African."
Other Antisemitic Posts
Other antisemitic posts ostentatiously praise Hitler, mock the Holocaust, and target those DP considers friendly or affiliated with Jews. Prominent Jewish individuals are ridiculed, and the main antisemitic motif used to do so is the large hooked nose. Below are examples.
"Hitler, human rights hero"
"The Jewish women gassed in Auschwitz by Hitler make for a vibrant Miss Holocaust 2018 contest."
A post attacks French President Emmanuel Macron for his alleged subservience to the Jews, headlining it: "The repulsive servant of the Jews Macron provokes the great [far-right Italian Interior Minister Matteo] Salvini by having his racial trash [i.e. refugees] dumped on Italian soil."
Caption: "Macron attempts to bring about Salvini's downfall in order to open Italy to the negro-Islamic invasion."
Bruno Julliard-Landon, a former leader of the major French students' union UNEF, was mocked as both a Jew and a homosexual, with a yellow and pink star (pink triangle badges designated homosexuals in Nazi concentration camps).
"The little Jewish faggot and sucker of HIV-positive dicks Bruno Julliard-Landon dares to drag before the rabbinical court heroic [homophobic businessman] Marcel Campion.". Below: "Marcel Campion will shatter the tyranny of sodomite fundamentalism."
In another post, French comedienne Marie Benoliel again is given a large hooked nose, under the heading "In the face of the rejection of the Islamic invasion, fat Jewish whore Marie Benoliel stops French people in the street to make them feel guilty [for refusing to accept refugees]."
Another post featured a cartoon of a stereotypical Jew preparing to stab a "French patriot" in the back, titled "Fighting power means fighting the Jews."
"Jean-Patriot (i.e. French patriots) trusts the Jews."
A DP podcast posted on the website featured a satanic depiction of a Jew and was titled "No more Internet for the goyim" – "goyim" is a Yiddish term for non-Jews.
Another post featured a caricature of a Jew headlined "The government is crawling before the Jews and promises [them] cash and comprehensive censorship of what the goyim have to say." It added: "This is the price to pay in order to be tolerated by Jews in France."
Racist Posts
In posts expressing its racism, DP regularly compares black people to animals, and depicts Arabs and Muslims as invaders, rapists, and butchers. The following are some examples:
DP regularly praises far-right Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for his tough policy aimed at containing arriving refugees. One post is titled "The great Salvini deploys police at the French border to contain the negro- based biological attack launched by [French President] Macron." It is captioned: "More vicious than a nuclear strike."
A post featuring a photo of Koko the gorilla, known for having learned a large number of sign-language hand signs and who died in 2018, was titled: "Koko, the gorilla who used to remind us why monkeys are more intelligent than negros, is no more."
Caption: "I am genuinely sad."
Another post, titled "A Racial Guide To Cities," read: "Raciology: We need a field guide to the afro-arabization of cities and villages in France, Belgium, and Switzerland."
Caption: "I don’t want to set foot in a totally Arabized area."
A DP podcast posted on the website was titled "France Without Ragheads."
Other racist images are shared by readers commenting on articles, as the one below. There appears to be no moderation for comments.
*N. Szerman is head of the French Department at MEMRI; R. Sosnow is lead editor at MEMRI.
[1] Democratieparticipative.biz/?s=Farrakhan, October 18, 2018.
[2] Dailystormer.name/meme-war-new-daily-stormer-style-news-site-emerges-in-france/, March 15, 2017.
[3] Isere-antifascisme.org/democratie-participativebiz-strategie-nazie-de-liberation-totale-de-la-parole-raciste-pour-harceler-et-menacer-il-faut-les-faire-taire, accessed November 2, 2018.
