This is the whole piece
"How can the French have such bad memory? We know that the Rassemblement National [RN, far right] has been on the rise for a long time. Seeing it so represented in the elections wasn't a surprise, but the reality is monstrous. I'm worried.
I'm Jewish, born in Algeria. When I arrived in France at the age of 4, there were riots in Paris. In medical school, I knew about the GUD [Groupe Union Défense, a far-right student group created in the 1970s] raids in the lecture halls. In 2000, my medical license was smashed, and swastikas had been carved into the elevator of the building where we lived. My children were attacked because they were Jewish. In the dispensary where I worked, in the Sentier neighborhood [in central Paris], I treated concentration camp survivors, foreigners of all nationalities and men and women in transition.
This hatred is poised to affect every French person, with the primary target being those who are not considered white. How can we forget that the RN includes in its ranks descendants of prominent Vichy families and a Pétainist ideology? Behind the RN's Islamophobic rhetoric lies anti-migrant, anti-LGBT, anti-Semitic, anti-woman, anti-everyone rhetoric.
In this chaos, some people are saying to themselves that 'the daughter isn't the father' and that we must try what hasn't been tried, apropos of the RN. But once they've tried, I tell myself it'll be too late. The far right has nothing to do with democracy! At the moment, my patients, of all faiths, are talking to me a lot, and the consultations are long. I understand the deep disappointment, the malaise, the multiple betrayals expressed, the loneliness, the disarray, the grief. I treat Muslims who are also revolted, worried and lost. Why is it that a citizen always has to think about protecting themselves when a state is supposed to be there to protect them and ensure a better life?
'TV news bias'
After October 7, I was traumatized for months. I told myself that I had to get out of that state to be able to think again. It took a lot of effort. The distress and emotion following these events are never-ending.
Some representatives of LFI [La France Insoumise, radical left] overflowed with hate speech. The lack of empathy was immediate. Concern for the human beings taken hostage was not shared. Among other things, these remarks confuse the far-right Israeli government with the Israeli population. Yet I hear that many Jews are more than shaken by what is happening in Gaza right now. Daily demonstrations against [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and for the release of the hostages are taking place in Tel Aviv. I have the impression that very few media outlets are covering them. In general, I think people forget that a lot of television media are in the hands of biased groups. When I hear some people think that CNews [France's equivalent of Fox News] is the only media organization that is pro-Israel... I think that's naive.
As Jews, we feel insecure on all sides. There is an extremely violent dialectic that stirs up hatred. As voters, we have to decide where the greatest danger lies. But isn't our duty to vote for a better life, with equal rights and respect? I have the feeling that we are objects for many politicians, in the midst of their hatred, their madness for power, their cynicism, and that we don't exist. This vote is making us sick. I'm hearing from left-wing Jews who won't be voting for the Nouveau Front Populaire [left-wing alliance] because of what the LFI representatives are saying. Mélenchon seems intent on parasitizing people's minds and weakening the left's opposition to a fascist government.
I'm afraid for the future, for my children and grandchildren, and for all of us. But I'm a fighter, I'm not downhearted. You can engage in individual resistance, and that's what I'm choosing to do. I talk, I listen, I try to preserve what is precious: solidarity, respect for others, the will to live, humanity. Caring for others in my job helps me a lot. However, individual resistance is not enough."