Alexis Delafontaine / Photo credit: LAETITIA NOTARIANNI / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
Several elected officials have been speaking out for several days to try to ban a conference organized at the University of Lille by a pro-Palestine student association. Jean-Luc Mélenchon must also participate, he who wishes to remobilize the Muslim electorate with a view to the European elections.
Will Jean-Luc Mélenchon hold his conference this Thursday at the University of Lille? The meeting is in any case in the sights of opponents of La France insoumise, from LR to RN via Renaissance, who are demanding the cancellation of the meeting organized by a pro-Palestine student association.
Through this conference, in which activist Rima Hassan is also due to participate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon is trying to win back part of the electorate loyal to the Palestinian cause. In 2022, the rebellious leader had already made the conquest of the Muslim electorate one of his major assets for the presidential election. For this campaign, the rebellious leader must face new competition: that of the “Free Palestine Party” list which brings together “several European movements with the same Muslim ethics” and which also wishes to seduce this community electorate.
“A disguised electoral rally”
La France insoumise therefore decides to outbid by participating in the conference of the Libre Palestine association which defends, via its logo, the pure and simple erasure of Israel from the map. The Renaissance du Nord MP, Violette Spillebout, asks the University to ban this meeting. “Should our public universities allow themselves to be infiltrated by rebellious France? We are in a European electoral campaign where normally, if there are political debates at the university, it must be in a spirit of pluralism. Finally , it’s a disguised electoral meeting within our public university, in university premises and that is not their destination.”
For his part, the president of the University of Lille maintains this conference in the name of association law and says he does not fear any disturbance to public order.