WILL the French journalist Éric Zemmour be silenced? It is hard to imagine a man as outspoken as Zemmour, who was convicted of defamation in French court last week for publicly stating that most drug dealers in France are Arabs and blacks, not speaking his mind. At his trial, Zemmour said: 

“I am not a provocateur. I say what I believe and what I see. Sometimes the reality is unbearable and brutal. This is about freedom of expression. When you describe reality, you are treated as a criminal.”

The blog Galliawatch is a good source for background and ongoing news about the celebrated and despised journalist. The author Tiberge wrote this longer piece on Zemmour last year and a recent post on the trial. Zemmour was fined 5,752 euros. Further fines were deferred and will be automatically collected if he comes up for more charges.

A recent profile in The New York Times described Zemmour as a “hopeless intellectual.” In his critiques of multiculturalism and mass immigration, Zemmour complains that France is being “Americanized.” He is an outspoken critic of feminism too. In his book, Le Premier Sexe, the journalist accused feminism of undermining virility, authority and social order.  

Zemmour is a reactionary in the best sense of the word, a critic of the grinding loss of meaning imposed on the individual by the wearing away of national identity and traditional roles.

                                                                                 — Comments —

Tiberge, of Galliawatch, writes:

Zemmour is indeed a rare bird among French journalists and is very popular with the French people. The readers’ comments, even at the MSM sites, often indicate gratitude for his courageous efforts. They often bemoan the fact that he is the only one who has such guts.

One thing I am waiting for is a communiqué from Marine Le Pen. The verdict was Friday, and possibly she will have something to say this week. So far the silence is deafening. It would be unfair of her not to take his side openly since he was always polite to and supportive of her father. Even if he did not like Jean-Marie Le Pen’s words he always defended his right to say them, and he admitted that his own position was in many ways close to Le Pen’s.

If she does issue a statement, I will try to report on it.

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