Bussigny in Pordenonelegge with ‘The new anti-Semites’: ‘Anti-Zionism can become a form of anti-Semitism’

A year of undercover infiltration in the ultra-left galaxy, over 100 testimonies and an investigation into the relationships between pro-Palestine mobilization, anti-Semitism and the Islamist galaxy: these are the themes at the center of “The new anti-Semites. Investigation of an infiltrator in the ranks of the ultra-left”, the book by French journalist Nora Bussigny presented today as a national preview at the Pordenonelegge festival. The former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls spoke with the author in Pordenone. This is the Italian edition, published by SeferOTTO, which in addition to the full translation of the French volume “Les Nouveaux Antisémites. Enquête d’une infiltrée dans les rangs de l’ultragauche”, published in 2025 by Albin Michel, includes the preface by Valls and an unpublished chapter, “The mechanics of hatred: the Italian case”.

Precisely in the unpublished work dedicated to Italy, Bussigny reconstructs the associative networks attributable, according to his investigation, to the international galaxy of the Muslim Brotherhood in our country. The journalist claims that even in Italy the Palestinian cause is being transformed into a “license to exclude, threaten, punish”. A mechanism which, in its reconstruction, would not be specifically Italian: it would speak French, English, Spanish and German, through the same networks, the same slogans and the same ties. The difference, Bussigny claims, would be above all temporal. France would have a few years’ advantage in the structuring of the networks, in their political representation and in their infiltration capacity. According to the author, Italy still has time to see what is coming, “but only if it really wants it”.

The book recounts a year-long investigation, during which Bussigny participated undercover in pro-Palestine demonstrations, events and meetings in France, Belgium and on the campuses of American and European universities. Places visited include Columbia University in New York, Sciences Po in Paris and the Université libre de Bruxelles. The journalist also reports having had access to chats in which, according to her reconstruction, the online manipulation of information platforms such as Wikipedia was planned.

During the investigation Bussigny said he witnessed, in the squares, applause aimed at what he defines as an apology for terrorism. She also reports having participated in feminist marches dedicated to the defense of the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people in which, according to her testimony, homosexuals tortured and murdered in the Gaza Strip administered by Hamas were not mentioned. Other meetings, the journalist says, took place in town halls with the participation of members of organizations banned in various countries for their links to terrorism.

In his reconstruction, Bussigny identifies a progressive convergence of the different souls of the radical left around a common enemy: the Jew or, more precisely, the “Zionist”. In the book the Zionist is indicated by the author as the one who “crystallizes, obsesses, galvanizes” the crowds who call for revolution or the “intifada”, from Paris to Gaza.

Through over 100 testimonies and an analysis of facts, protagonists and slogans, Bussigny argues that the Islamist galaxy has managed to insert itself into some progressive struggles also thanks to the radical left, which he defines as a “Trojan horse” of anti-Semitism. According to the journalist, anti-Semitism would thus become respectable again through the use of anti-Zionism. The conclusion of the investigation is that, according to Bussigny, terrorist organizations have managed to make inroads into progressive struggles because the political and cultural paradigms have been profoundly distorted. (by Paolo Martini)