The University of Lille finally banned the holding of a pro-Palestine conference which was to take place this Thursday afternoon, in the presence of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and at the initiative of “Free Palestine”. Several voices were raised to try to obtain this ban.
The University of Lille has finally decided. This Thursday afternoon, it will not host the pro-Palestine conference which was to be held in the presence of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and at the initiative of the “Free Palestine” association. “The conditions are no longer met to guarantee the serenity of the debates” due to the “worrying” rise in international tensions after “the military escalation that took place on April 13 and 14 in the Middle East”, underlines the university in a press release .
The event which had worried the opponents of France Insoumise as well as the Jewish community which saw it as a provocation. Even within the university, some feared the emergence of anti-Semitic discourse. On the conference poster, we could notably see a logo which erases Israel from the map of the Middle East. Controversial activist Rima Hassan was also due to take part.
The conference “in another place”, says Mélenchon’s entourage
The conference will be held “in another location”, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s entourage told AFP. The conference organized by a pro-Palestinian student association, “Free Palestine”, was authorized “at the end of last week” within the framework of “freedom of information and expression” provided for by the Education code, specifies the university.
But the tensions “reverberate at the national and local level, just as at the university”, underlines the management to explain its decision. Calling for “measure in the comments made”, she deplores the “pressure exerted on the educational and scientific autonomy of higher education establishments”.