France Unbowed 'has become a target' of the UAE, Melenchon says
The leader of French left-wing party France Unbowed (LFI) and former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon has denounced “the influence of networks linked to the United Arab Emirates” following a series of accusations levelled against the party and some of its MPs.
“LFI has become a target of the Emirates,” he wrote on his blog on Tuesday, shortly after his party, the largest left-wing group in parliament, filed a complaint to the public prosecutor regarding a highly controversial poll on Muslims in France, suggesting it could be part of an Emirati “influence operation” in the country.
The survey, which suggests that there is “a phenomenon of 're-Islamisation'" in France "accompanied by a worrying increase in adherence to Islamist ideology”, has been the subject of several legal complaints from Muslim organisations, who accused it of being “based on biased questions” to spread “the poison of hatred in the public sphere”.
In its complaint, LFI argues that the survey “served as a platform for discourse inciting discrimination, hatred or violence”, emphasising that “since its publication, several Islamophobic acts have been reported”.
The poll, conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion (Ifop), was commissioned by a magazine, Écran de Veille (Screen Watch), which is said to be linked to an alleged Emirati smear campaign against Muslim individuals and groups.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Several media outlets have exposed links between the UAE and some staff members of Écran de Veille.
The monthly publication is owned by Global Watch Analysis (GWA), a media company that is highly critical of political Islam, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood - a movement banned by the UAE - and harbours open hostility toward Qatar.
According to Le Monde, the founder and editor-in-chief of Écran de Veille and GWA, Atmane Tazaghart, was in contact with an anonymous email account linked to a former Emirati agent who was a key figure in influence operations orchestrated by a Swiss intelligence agency, Alp Services, on behalf of the UAE.
In July 2023, the French investigative media outlet Mediapart revealed how Alp Services spied on more than 1,000 people and hundreds of organisations from 18 different European countries.
According to Mediapart, Alp Services portrayed them as having links to the Muslim Brotherhood, before sending the information to Emirati intelligence services who further targeted them through press campaigns.
LFI was among the approximately 200 individuals and 120 organisations that were targeted in France, Mediapart said.
LFI's complaint to the public prosecutor argued that if the links exposed in the press are proven, this could violate a law that forbids "maintaining intelligence with a foreign power […] or with their agents, when it is likely to harm the fundamental interests of the nation".
Tazaghart has denied all allegations. "There is no foreign funding. The prosecutor will do his job," he said, adding that he has “financed the study” with the magazine’s revenue.
Since 2022, his media company has commissioned Ifop to carry out seven polls, all dealing with issues of religion or secularism, all costing several thousand euros.
Écran de Veille, virtually unknown to the general public, is distributed free of charge to all members of parliament every month.
Ifop also defended its work and filed a complaint against two LFI MPs who had criticised the survey.
Inquiry on 'Islamist infiltration itself infiltrated'
In its complaint, LFI warned that “an Emirati influence network may have infiltrated our institutions”.
It notes that two consultants from Écran de Veille, Nora Bussigny and Emmanuel Razavi, “who present themselves as journalists”, recently testified before a parliamentary inquiry committee on “the links between representatives of political movements and organisations and networks supporting terrorist activity or propagating Islamist ideology”.
The inquiry was requested by right-wing MPs, who sought to establish links between LFI and "Islamism" and the "risk of entryism" during the upcoming elections, in reference to the supposed infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood feared by the authorities.
The inquiry has been accused of being poorly conceived and a way for the right-wing to shape political debate.
'Beware, there is a power outside of France that is manipulating and interfering in all sorts of circumstances to settle its scores with Qatar'
- Jean-Luc Melenchon
On Saturday, Melanchon himself appeared before the inquiry committee. He noted that all of the French intelligence officials who had given evidence to the MPs denied any links between his party and groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Even Matthieu Bloch, the right-wing MP who leads the inquiry as its rapporteur, admitted: “At this stage, nothing demonstrates the existence of structural - let alone financial - links between political parties and Islamist organisations.”
On the other hand, Melenchon questioned why no one had focused instead on the Emirati “external interference”, which he said “aimed at provoking a public debate against Qatar”.
"Beware, there is a power outside of France that is manipulating and interfering in all sorts of circumstances to settle its scores with Qatar," he told the committee.
"What I cannot accept is that France is the playing field for these power struggles and that, in honesty, out of vigilance, you find yourselves involved in this, helping manoeuvres in which none of you ever thought of participating."
Bussigny and Razavi, authors of books accusing LFI of links with Iran and "new antisemitism", were both questioned by the committee.
They told its members that “close, extremely dangerous links exist between Islamist organisations and certain political parties in France".
"Often, these links are revealed during large Parisian demonstrations organised in support of Palestine,” the rapporteur quoted them as saying.
LFI has consistently supported the Palestinian cause, particularly since the early days of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has led to accusations of antisemitism and its members being summoned by police over suspicions they have engaged in "apology for terrorism".
Asking why Bussigny and Razavi were selected by a parliamentarian inquiry committee despite the alleged links of the media company they work for to a foreign state, Melenchon wrote on his blog: "The conclusion could well be this: the inquiry committee on Islamist infiltration has itself been infiltrated to further a conflict between Islamic states..."
Denouncing the media's “stinking” silence on this issue, he asked whether the "solidarity" of some of his accusers with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extends to Arab countries that allied themselves with Israel, "as is the case with the Emirates but not Qatar?”
'Scandal
Melenchon also mentioned the UAE’s involvement in what he calls “the Carlos Martens Bilongo defamation case”, referring to a LFI MP who was the object of an investigation “for tax fraud and money laundering” in 2023 following a report from Tracfin, the French financial intelligence unit that tracks money laundering.
Two years later, the case was dismissed by the prosecutor’s office, which acknowledged the absence of any wrongdoing.
On 20 October, the investigative outlet L’Informe revealed that the Tracfin report, which triggered the preliminary investigation, was riddled with “implausible errors, difficult to explain unless intentional”, and reported suspicions that it was produced under pressure from the UAE, whose policies Bilongo had criticised.
The MP had protested the fact that the COP 28, the climate conference held that year in the UAE, was organised by the head of the Emirati national oil company.
Bilongo reacted to L’Informe’s revelation by denouncing "a real scandal, against a backdrop of foreign interference" and filed a complaint against persons unknown for "false denunciation" and "collusion with a foreign power".
Several reports in recent years have investigated the influence campaigns allegedly orchestrated by the UAE to persuade public opinion, especially in the West, that Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood and Islam are a danger.
The methods include identifying and denigrating targeted individuals supposedly affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, disseminating content critical of the movement and Qatar through social and traditional media, and influencing policymakers. The UAE has denied being involved in such campaigns.
The Gulf state has also reportedly found allies on the right and far right of the European political spectrum.
In France, Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party, in addition to sharing similar talking points about Islam, reportedly benefited, according to Mediapart, from an €8m loan that passed through an Emirati bank.
These funds, whose origin remain unclear, are said to have saved the party at the end of 2017 when it was experiencing financial difficulties.
Notably, a parliamentary inquiry into foreign interference chaired by the National Rally in 2023 pointed at the influence operations led by several countries, particularly Russia and China, but failed to mention any similar campaign by the UAE and Israel, whose objectives are reportedly promoted by powerful lobbies in France.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
