La France insoumise (LFI) found itself isolated on Saturday, October 7, when reacting to the massive attacks by Hamas in Israel, which left many civilians dead. “The armed offensive by Palestinian forces led by Hamas comes in a context of intensification of the Israeli occupation policy in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem”said the movement’s parliamentary group in a press release.
Out of step with the rest of the French political class which has widely condemned the assault on the Jewish state, LFI is accused of finding justifications for the attack by denouncing the Islamist movement and Israeli colonization with one voice. The party leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, carefully avoided taking sides by explaining that “all the violence unleashed against Israel and in Gaza only proves one thing: violence only produces and reproduces itself”. “Horrified, our thoughts and compassion go out to all the distraught populations affected by all of this. The ceasefire must be imposed”, he added on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
“On the far left, verbal violence is accepted, the search for chaos claimed”, declared in reaction, during a trip to Bordeaux on Sunday, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne. In front of the activists of the French presidential party Renaissance, Mme Borne lashed out “the revolting ambiguities in the face of the drama of these last hours”.
“The positions of France Insoumise are well known, with a lot of ambiguity, with anti-Zionism, so in fact, it is sometimes also a way of masking a kind of anti-Semitism”declared Elisabeth Borne after her first speech, during an interview with BFM-TV. “According to you, anti-Zionism is a sort of false nose for anti-Semitism in certain political groups? »replied journalist Benjamin Duhamel. “In some, in certain formations, yes”said M.me Thick headed.
Anger on the left
These LFI statements aroused the anger of socialist elected officials, allies of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party within the New Ecological and Social Popular Union (Nupes).
“Jews are always responsible for what happens to them. It’s a constant in anti-Semitic discourse.”responded socialist senator Laurence Rossignol to Louis Boyard. LFI deputy had written on x (formerly Twitter): “France has turned a blind eye to colonization and abuses in Palestine for too long. For too long, France has kept the violence of the Israeli state and that of Palestinian armed groups back to back. »
“To the useful idiots of the Hamas terrorists who exonerate them by putting things into perspective, in the name of the political impasse of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of the continuation of colonization, of Netanyahu… you disgust me. That we find them on the left is unbearable”exclaimed the socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj.
The president of the Court of Auditors and former socialist minister, Pierre Moscovici, came out of his reserve to judge “as shocking as it is despairing” the positioning of LFI. The mayor of Reims, Arnaud Robinet, member of Edouard Philippe Horizons’ party, for his part asked “the lifting of parliamentary immunity” rebellious deputies who “have crossed the red line”.
“Shame on LFI which brings back to back an attacked democracy and a murderous terrorist regime. This equating is in fact a legitimization of Hamas terrorism”denounced the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), Yonathan Arfi.
A complaint for glorifying terrorism against the NPA
The New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) of Philippe Poutou, which recently proposed to LFI to lead a common list in the next European elections, for its part went against the grain of the political class and brought “its support for the Palestinians and the means of struggle they have chosen to resist”. The Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF) announced Saturday evening its intention to file a complaint against the far-left party for advocating terrorism. “I am not going to do the work of justice in place of justice, but advocating terrorism is criminally reprehensible”commented on this subject by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on BFM-TV on Sunday.
Among the rebels, the deputy François Ruffin, one of the potential candidates for the 2027 presidential election, distinguished himself from his party comrades by expressing “total condemnation of the Hamas attack”. Still on the left, socialists and ecologists have clearly denounced the Hamas attacks, as have the right and the far right. For the leader of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, the Hamas attacks are “unacceptable and unjustifiable”. But he calls for “get rid of selective indignation” and believes that the Israeli government “contributed heavily to this spiral”.
“The strikes by the Hamas terrorist group against Israeli territory are an unacceptable act of war that pushes any hope of peace further and further every day. In these difficult hours, we stand more than ever alongside Israeli democracy”, for his part wrote about X Marine Le Penthe leader of the deputies of the National Rally.
The French executive, for its part, condemned “with the greatest firmness” the Hamas attacks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emmanuel Macron then Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne taking a position in similar terms.