Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has expressed concern that individuals working in the art and media industries could face job loss for showing support towards Palestine.
During his appearance on the French television channel BFMTV's "Le 120 Minutes" program, Villepin underlined the importance of artists not succumbing to the "dictatorship of common thought."
Villepin stressed the dominance of "financial pressure" in both the media and art spheres, hindering the uninhibited expression of artists' ideas.
Villepin mentioned that artists are worried about their contracts being terminated for expressing their ideas, citing the situation in France as well as the United States.
Villepin used American top model Bella Hadid, who is of Palestinian origin, to illustrate his point, highlighting how she encounters pressure even when discussing "her own family, her own history, her own life."
Following these comments, certain French media outlets accused the ex-Prime Minister of being anti-Semitic.
