French writer Bernard-Henri Levy was met by dozens of Islamist protesters upon his arrival in Tunisia.
Levy said that the protesters were angry about "a Zionist placing his dirty feet on Tunisian soil." He was described by local newspapers as a "Zionist agent" and by blogs as a "vampire who had come to drink Arab blood," the Times of Israel reported.
The Islamists greeted Levy, a celebrity writer in his native France, with a protest rally at Tunis’ Carthage airport on October 31, the Le Parisien daily reported.
"No to Zionist power in Tunisia" and "Get lost," the protesters yelled at Levy, who left the North African country on Monday. [...]
While he downplayed that event, Levy, the son of Algerian immigrants to France, added that "the issue, to the extent that there is one, is what followed in the newsrooms and social networks: Within hours, I had become at best – and I mean in reputable newspapers – a ‘Jewish intellectual’ or " Zionist agent’ who had come singlehandedly to sow disorder and dissent in the young Tunisian democracy."
Blogs, meanwhile, described Levy as a "dog, vermin" and "vampire who had come to drink Arab blood," he complained.