President Macron condemns French textbook that describes Oct 7 victims as 'Jewish settlers'

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday condemned a non-official French textbook that inaccurately described victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack as “Jewish settlers,” emphasizing that the book was not published by the French Ministry of Education.

“Passages from a non-official exam preparation book define the victims of October 7, 2023, as ‘Jewish settlers.’ This is a serious and unacceptable act. The definition is a falsification of the facts and an insult to the dignity of terror victims. No textbook should present such a distorted perspective,” Macron stated.

The textbook, published by the established French educational company Hachette, claims that “on October 7, in response to the deaths of more than 1,200 Jewish settlers in a series of Hamas attacks, Israel decided to intensify its economic isolation of Gaza and to invade large parts of it, resulting in a major humanitarian crisis throughout the region.”

In reality, the victims were overwhelmingly civilians from Israeli communities within the country’s internationally recognized borders. While Western media outlets often use the term “settlers” to describe Israeli Jews living in Judea and Samaria, applying the label to all Israelis is commonly used by those seeking to delegitimize the Jewish state’s existence.

The International League Against Racism and Antisemitism (LICRA) was reportedly the first to criticize the textbook’s content and bring it to public attention. 

“Is it too much to ask a prominent publisher to avoid spreading confused theories aimed at denying a tragedy?” LICRA wrote in a post on the social media platform 𝕏. 

The controversial textbook was also condemned by Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) who reportedly discussed the issue with the Hachette CEO Arnaud Lagardère.

“I conveyed the community’s outrage over the text. It’s a distortion of history and an unacceptable attempt to legitimize Hamas terror,” Arfi explained. “The book ignores the fact that Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization. There is no place for hatred in school materials."

Hachette issued an apology following the public condemnations and vowed to withdraw all the copies of the book from stores and libraries. 

“Hachette acknowledges the controversy surrounding the textbook and apologizes for the incorrect content on the referenced page,” the French publisher stated. “The book will no longer be sold until it has been reviewed and corrected. An internal investigation is already underway to determine how such an error was published."

“I want to personally apologize to everyone rightly offended by this publication,” the CEO Lagardère stated. “I also apologize to teachers, parents, and students. Hachette will implement stricter editorial oversight to ensure such incidents do not happen again."

France is home to the largest Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe. Like many other Western countries, anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incidents have soared in France since the Hamas Oct. 7 attack in 2023.

Robert Ejnes, the head of France’s largest Jewish umbrella organization, CRIF, warned in August 2025 that antisemitism in French society could push more French Jews to move to Israel and other countries. The French Jewish leader criticized France’s decision to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.

“We see it as a recognition of the terrorist value of the 7th of October,” Ejnes stated. “And we're not the only ones to say it, because Hamas leaders say (sic) exactly the same thing three days ago."