The Dreyfus Affair – Proof That Antisemitism Preceded the State of Israel

Today, Europe repeatedly accuses Israel of “occupation” as the cause of antisemitism. But history tells a different story: Jew-hatred existed long before the State of Israel, before the Holocaust, and even before the Zionist dream.

The Dreyfus Affair, which shook France at the end of the 19th century, is a powerful example. A Jewish officer was falsely accused of treason, stripped of his rank in a humiliating public ceremony, and exiled. Newspapers of the time – most famously Le Petit Journal with its illustration “The Degradation of Dreyfus” – symbolized not only the humiliation of one man but of an entire people.

What happened in the Dreyfus Affair?
In 1894, a document suggesting espionage for Germany was found in the French Army headquarters. Without solid evidence, Captain Alfred Dreyfus – a decorated Jewish officer – was accused of treason. In a climate of virulent antisemitism, he was convicted. In January 1895, in Paris, his insignia were ripped off and his sword was broken before a jeering crowd. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island in French Guiana.

The fight for justice
For years, his family and a group of intellectuals fought to prove his innocence. In 1898, writer Émile Zola published his famous article J’Accuse!, openly accusing the army and the courts of antisemitism. French society was torn in two – the Dreyfusards who demanded justice, and the anti-Dreyfusards who insisted he was guilty because he was Jewish.

The conclusion of the affair
In 1899, Dreyfus was brought back for a retrial, but was convicted again. Only in 1906, after the falsifications were exposed and public pressure mounted, was he fully exonerated and reinstated in the army with the rank of Major.

The historical lesson
The Dreyfus Affair proved that antisemitism was not born with the State of Israel or the “occupation.” It was rooted in so-called “enlightened” Europe for centuries and ultimately culminated in the Holocaust. Today, when Europe lectures Israel while forgetting both the Holocaust and the atrocities of October 7th, we must remind the world: antisemitism did not begin in the Middle East – it runs deep in European history.