In France, the debate over the war between Palestine and Israel, which has left thousands dead and injured in both camps, is reaching worrying proportions.
In the crosshairs of Israel’s defenders, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the president of La France Insoumise (LFI), who has the peculiarity of not following the entire French political class, represents the same discourse.
He has just done it again regarding the situation in Palestine and Israel, issuing an avalanche of insults and even a direct call for murder against him from a world-famous figure, in this case the singer Enrico Macias.
Official France and a large part of the political class and the press have sided with Israel after the spectacular attack by Palestinian militants that has killed more than 900 people on Israeli territory since dawn on October 7th.
The hundreds of victims in Gaza killed by Israeli Air Force bombs are merely “collateral victims” of the “response” of a state that “has the right to defend itself.” A speech that Jean-Luc Mélenchon does not share and that he says out loud.
Regardless of whether we agree with the leftist leader or not, we must recognize one constant in him: he does not accept mergers, even if it means being alone.
In the recent controversies surrounding immigration or Muslims in France, such as the unrest following the death of the young Nahel at the end of June or the ban on wearing the abaya to school at the beginning of September, Jean-Luc Mélenchon stood out for positions that were similar to those of the Executive and the rest of the political class, especially the right and the far right, are completely opposed.
This time he was alone in his own camp in Palestine, but the man stuck to his convictions. Mélenchon, who is under attack from all over France, did not praise the actions of the Palestinian Hamas.
He simply refused to be selective in his outrage and expressed a sensible position by getting to the root of the problem last Saturday morning, shortly after the Palestinian attack began. His deputies emphasized that the attack was carried out “in the context of the tightening of Israel’s occupation policy.”
Then Mélenchon spoke up
On Monday, La France Insoumise, unlike the other parties in the left-wing Nupes alliance, did not send a representative to a demonstration in support of Israel organized in Paris.
Which brought him the crossfire of power and opposition. But Mélenchon cannot be dismantled. He quickly went on the offensive, accusing the march’s organizer, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), of trying to force everyone to “adhere to the position of the far-right Israeli government.”
France: Enrico Macias openly calls for murder
“The CRIF isolated and prevented the solidarity of the French with the desire for peace and the demand for an immediate ceasefire,” countered the left-wing politician.
For Yonathan Arfi, president of CRIF, Mélenchon is “an enemy of the republic” and he is “outside the republican pact”. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne accused him of cultivating “a form of anti-Semitism” that he hides with his “anti-Zionism,” and Jordan Bardella, the president of the National Rally (far right), accused him of providing “moral support” to the Islamist one Terrorism.
The most heinous attack, however, came from pro-Israel singer Enrico Macias. As a guest on CNews on the show of Pascal Praud – who recently made the connection between immigration and bed bugs – Enrico Macias made a major gaffe by openly calling for “destroying” those who also want to denounce the crimes of the Israeli army .
“When I hear that the extreme left is giving up in the face of this horror, then I am forced to say what I didn’t want to say: We have to destroy these people,” explained the Jewish singer, who was known for his chauvinism at the time is about the defense of Israel.
Pascal Praud, the show’s host, then asks him if they need to be “kicked out” for political and electoral reasons. Enrico Macias’ answer is astonishing: “Yes, of course, but maybe even physically.” »
Enrico Macias was born in Constantine during the colonial period under the name Gaston Ghrenassia and, at the age of 85, still hopes to return to Algeria, but the authorities and public opinion strongly oppose this.
In addition to his public support for the Israeli occupier, according to numerous testimonies, Enrico Macias was part of a militia in Constantine that fought against the National Liberation Front (FLN) during the Algerian War.
Mélenchon and his party are concentrating on all the criticism and insults and now also on calls for murder. However, they have done nothing other than point the finger at the origin of the evil engulfing the Middle East region, namely the actions of Israel, which does nothing to promote peace, and the complicit silence of the international community.
But when it comes to Israel, freedom of expression, like human rights, also varies.