"Lightness" and "racism": Sophia Aram criticized by journalists from "Le Parisien" after a column on the Gaza Flotilla

A year of columns and a press release from the Society of Journalists. The SDJ of Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France took very little notice of Sophia Aram's latest article, published on June 15 in the newspaper, about the situation in Gaza. The journalists accused her of "racism," particularly toward Swedish pro-Palestinian activist Greta Thunberg.

In a message posted Tuesday evening on the social network X, the SDJ pointed to Sophia Aram's column published under the title "People boat." In it, she mocked the expedition the previous days of twelve pro-Palestinian activists aboard a sailboat to Gaza, including LFI MEP Rima Hassan and Greta Thunberg. "Besides addressing the tragedy of Gaza with a lightness that raises questions, she crosses, in our opinion, at least one red line, from which we wish to formally dissociate ourselves," the journalists wrote.

The SDJ criticizes Sophie Aram for calling Greta Thunberg "Miss Krisprolls" and for renaming the operation "Wasa for Gaza," in reference to two Swedish brands of toasted bread, referring to the activist's origins. "Even in a humorous way, it is never very inspired to bring a person back to their origins to discredit them," believes the SDJ.

"Let's imagine for a moment that an author paid by Le Parisien were to nickname a Mexican whose views he doesn't share "Mister Tacos," a Moroccan "Mister Couscous," or a Spanish woman "Miss Paella"... The racist nature of the jibes would no longer be in doubt," argues the SDJ. "Racism, which is a crime, is not tolerated in Le Parisien ," it insists, urging the editorial management "to be extremely vigilant." The Society of Journalists does not specify, but in her column, Sophia Aram also nicknamed the rebellious elected official Rima Hassan "Lady Gaza," referring to her Palestinian origins.

Faced with the "cost-cutting plan" implemented by management, which includes the elimination of 40 positions, the SDJ instead calls for "the elimination of these Sunday columns," in which it sees "settling of scores" and "ideological biases coupled with personal obsessions." More generally, the SDJ believes that the newspaper's readers "have been insufficiently informed […] of the tragedy unfolding in Gaza."

In addition to the weekly column she has been writing for the past year in Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France, Sophia Aram contributes a weekly column to the morning show on public radio France Inter. She regularly lampoons the positions of La France Insoumise, particularly on Gaza.