Solène Delinger
modified to
11:04 a.m., December 5, 2023
Ruth Elkrief chose to respond to Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s attacks in her column on Monday evening. The LCI editorialist said she was “hurt as a female journalist”. This weekend, the leader of La France insoumise described her as “fanatic” following a very tense interview with Manuel Bompard where the war in the Middle East was discussed.
Ruth Elkrief could not remain silent in the face of the controversy. Monday evening, the LCI journalist wanted to respond to the attacks of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who described her as “fanatic” following her very tense exchange with Manuel Bompard on the subject of the war in the Middle East.
“This controversy imposed itself on me”
“Criticizing a journalist is legitimate. It was not a criticism but an attack,” initially indicated presenter David Pujadas. “I did not wish for this controversy and I regret it but it imposed itself on me”, underlined Ruth Elkrief, before thanking all the people who gave her their support, from “all political families” and “ of all editorial lines”. Pascal Praud notably defended Ruth Elkrief, ensuring that “every journalist in France should condemn these words against one of our most remarkable colleagues”.
“It seemed to discredit my way of doing my job”
After Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s inflammatory tweet targeting Ruth Elkrief, the journalist received numerous hate messages. Gérald Darmanin immediately announced his placement under legal protection. “What is at stake concerns us all,” assured the editorialist Monday evening. “It’s about defending the freedom of journalists to ask questions that are unpleasant. I have always conceived of this profession as one of listening and respecting others but, at the same time, I have always thought that it “It was my duty to ask difficult, sensitive questions to everyone,” she added. Ruth Elkrief then said she was “hurt as a woman journalist” because “it seemed like my way of doing my job was being discredited.”
“Define yourself by your citizenship”
Finally, the journalist returned to her personal journey: “I was raised in Morocco, with knowledge and intimate affection for Jewish, Muslim and Christian cultural and religious traditions. And that is precisely why I believe that only the secular Republic, even if it is mistreated, contested, allows us to live in harmony. There is one condition: to define oneself by one’s citizenship and not by one’s religion or one’s origins and not to be referred to it by the others (…) I apply this condition to myself and to all my fellow citizens, whoever they may be and whom I deeply respect.” Ruth Elkrief concluded her column by assuring viewers that she would continue to “work the same way.”