FRENCH READER LEO LE BRUN writes:

I am faithful reader of InstaPundit.com from Rennes, France and I can’t agree more when you hit the French where it hurts: anti-semitism. Still, I cannot believe you would support a boycott on French products based on that. I don’t really like my country and plan to move back to the US (where I was a student) next year. France is indeed a deeply ambivalous country and my fellow Frenchmen often take the wrong stance on many issues. Our not supporting Israel, our criticizing of US for being ‘simplistic’, our unwillingness to join the US in attacking Sadamm and root out terror are positions that disturb me.

And so does the nonchalance of my government when it comes to horrible acts of anti-semitic hatred. These acts are comitted by young Arabs who watch the deeply biased coverage of the Middle East on T! V and feel the need to ‘get even’ by beating up Jewish teens playing soccer or setting a synaguogue on fire. I know you will tell me that’s no excuse since the Socialist government (finally over, thank God) has not done what it should have done about these horrific acts, and you would be right, because that’s the core of the problem, no matter who is behind these acts. I have been denouncing the situation on my blog (http://leolebrun.blogspot.com) for weeks, in French and English, and 90% of the reactions I received were positive. I have been linked to by Asparagirl, Diane E., Dawson.com and LGF who were relieved to see that not all the French were anti-semites or pro-Palestinian. That is why a boycott on French products is a terrible idea. We are not like the Palestinians who all seem to support terror and worship “martyrs”. Many pundits here, and most of them were not Jewish, called on the French to not accept this situation and denounced classifying antisemitic acts as part of “insécurité”, as we call crime here.

Sure there has been pro-Palestinian street demonstrations with hateful messages, but did you notice that the next day, 300.000 French people took to the same streets to express their disapointment with the Government and their support for Israel? These protestors outnumbered the pro-Palestinians 3to1! I happen to work in a field that depends on American tourists coming here and nothing would sadden me more that seeing Americans stop visiting my country. Would you boycott any product that comes from the Bay Area because lots of students at Berkeley and SFSU legitimize Palestinian terror? Would you give up Rice A Roni? I don’t think so. Please acknowledge that many Frenchmen are good people who sympathize with Israel even if they are not Jewish (you will not find somebody who is more Breton than me!);and love the US for what it stands for, even more so in these trying times. Please don’t make all Americans see France in this way, even though we have a lot of things to improve!

Well, except for minor things like Cannes, I’m not really for an actual boycott of France, much less the campaign to pave France. I have some hope that since the recent election, the French political class is beginning to awaken to reality. I hope I’m right.

Oh, and here’s a link to Leo’s blog, which is in both French and English.

UPDATE: Rand Simberg emails:

Tell Leo there were lots of reasons to give up the “San Francisco Treat”
even before all the anti-semitism out there.

And Chris Blanchard likens it to an American boycott of French Fries. “Please,” he writes, “don’t take it out on the starch.” Another reader points out that Berkeley was in fact boycotted last fall by Americans who disagreed with its anti-American stance.