Letters to the Editor: The future of France after its election

To the editor: I beg to differ on the point that French President Emmanuel Macron’s gamble to call snap elections did not pay off for France. Macron’s calculated risk to stave off Marine Le Pen’s National Rally surge and coalesce with other political parties created a massive groundswell at the ballot box, keeping National Rally at bay.

The willingness of French politicians, who had initially campaigned for office, to strategically withdraw their bids in order to consolidate the anti-ultra-right vote demonstrates a commendable sacrifice for the greater good of the country. While the arduous task of unifying diverse political factions now begins, it is clear that France has managed to contain the rise of extreme right-wing forces at least for the moment. France had a great example of whom not to follow: the United States.

Vive la France, indeed!

Yasmin Netervala-Iseli, Zurich, Switzerland

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To the editor: I lived for one year for my junior year abroad, in Paris, from 1978-1979. It was a time of major antisemitism. Businesses and a synagogue were bombed in the Marais.

I went to a home goods marketplace and when I asked the appliance salesman why one would need a large oven and a small oven, his reply was “one is for big Jews and one is for little Jews.”

I was quite shaken by that. And make no mistake, that salesman was not an immigrant or a Muslim. He was a white Frenchman. Members of the Vichy government who were white, Christian Frenchmen were quick to round up the Jewish population and send them to death camps.

Donald Trump, like Le Pen, appeals to white supremacists. Jews around the world need to open their eyes and realize that white supremacists are trying to gain power by pitting Jews and Muslims against each other so it’s that much easier to get rid of us all.

Erica Fox, Studio City