After Over 40 Years: French Newspaper Correspondent Quits Due to 'Left-Wing Antisemitism'
Journalist Jean Quatremer, who had been with Libération since 1984, announced his departure from the newspaper. He cited harassment from editorial staff over his views on Israel and politics as the reason for his exit.
Journalist Jean Quatremer, Libération's Brussels correspondent and commentator on European and EU affairs, announced on Wednesday that he is leaving the renowned French newspaper where he had worked since 1984. In his farewell letter, he explained his departure as the result of persecution he experienced from some members of the editorial staff following his positions, primarily on issues related to Israel. "Islamo-leftism and wokism have won," he told the magazine Le Point.
Quatremer, 68, is considered one of France's leading experts on EU institutions. Libération was founded in 1973 by philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and journalist Serge July, and for decades served as one of the most identifiable voices of the French left. Until recently, the editor-in-chief of Libération was French-Israeli journalist Dov Alfon, who announced his resignation in April after six years in the position.
Quatremer identifies the October 7 massacre as the turning point in the attitude toward him. He says that even before that, his statements caused discomfort in the editorial office, but after the massacre, things escalated: the newspaper's journalists' association turned against him, while management continued to back him. In his farewell letter, he attacks what he describes as the new atmosphere on the French left:
"They nazify the Jews, accuse Israel and the Jews of the world of genocide just as yesterday they accused them of killing Christ, they deny Israel's right to exist, which does not happen to any other country."
"No one ever came and told me to my face what was wrong, except right at the end, on social media, when it was already clear that I was leaving," says Quatremer. "In the Libération of the nineties, the debates were tough, but in the Libération of 2026, there is no more debating. My opponents inside did not reveal themselves and did not want to talk; they only wanted to silence me. I defend the concept that Israel is a democracy. I see that the evidence for 'genocide' in Gaza has still not been found. I believe that one can speak fully about Muslim antisemitism."
Quatremer writes that he chose the newspaper in 1984 precisely because it was free, wild, and non-conformist. "I belong to the social-democratic left that fights religious fanaticism of any kind, racism, antisemitism, and authoritarian regimes, and I can only state that it is a minority today, and perhaps even on the way to disappearing," he writes.
"Since the pogrom on October 7, this left has turned the hostility toward the Netanyahu government, which I fully share, and the legitimate support for the Palestinian cause, into a violent anti-Zionism that is the mask of unbridled antisemitism," he writes. He notes that he never confused Muslims with Islamist ideology, nor Palestinians with Hamas. He signed the letter: "Do not forget that freedom is recognized by the noise it makes when it leaves."
Libération's management responded: "In his 41 years on the staff, Jean has acquired European expertise that is irreplaceable. In the last three years, his relations with part of the staff have deteriorated, but Libération has always defended his freedom of expression."
