The holiday of Hanukkah, a pillar of Judaism, began this year on December 25, at the same time as Christmas, and will continue until January 2. During this period, it is common to eat fried foods, like the savory or sweet donuts that Virgilia Hess showed in her video. The mother of Léna-Rose, diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 while she was pregnant, published a story on Instagram on the occasion of this Jewish holiday. A story that earned him a lot of violent and anti-Semitic comments.
This is not the first time that Virgilia Hess has faced this kind of violence. Last May, after reacting to a pro-Hamas demonstration at Columbia University, she had already received anti-Semitic insults. She then confided on X: “I carry within me the Ashkenazi trauma of my family, victims of the Shoah, and, in fact, I have always remained rather discreet about my religion, sometimes almost hidden. But since October 7, I can no longer remain silent. I am sickened (the word is weak) by the anti-Semitic hatred which is flooding the world, particularly in Paris, my hometown, and in New York, where I lived for five years for my studies.”
“you can die of your cancer”: words from hate after Virgilia Hess post
In her Instagram story, Virgilia Hess wished her subscribers a happy Hanukkah with these words: “And Hanukkah Sameah”. A warm intention which however attracted odious comments. Among the messages received, one of them said: “I didn’t know you were a fucking Zionist, plus I felt sorry for you with your cancer. Tchao I’m unsubscribing, you genocidalist, you could die of your cancer.”
Shocked, the 34-year-old journalist decided to share these insults publicly to denounce this wave of hatred. On X (formerly Twitter), she wrote: “This is the kind of messages we can receive at the dawn of 2025 when we post a Hanukkah story on Instagram (story that I am sharing here, so you can see). And again I corrected the mistakes spelling and did not give you all the Palestinian flags that followed. Sad France…”
The Society of Journalists (SDJ) of BFMTV expressed its support for Virgilia Hess
Faced with these attacks, the Society of Journalists (SDJ) of BFMTV expressed its unwavering support for Virgilia Hess. In a statement they said: “Our colleague and sister Virgilia Hess has been the target for several days of insulting messages of an anti-Semitic nature, and death threats, following a post on social networks in which she was concerned about the virulence of anti-Semitism. These insults and threats are unbearable and unacceptable. The SDJ of BFMTV strongly condemns them and wishes to assure Virgilia of its full support.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, proofread, corrected and enriched by the editorial journalists.
