On Saturday morning, Israel was hit by a salvo of terror attacks on its territory orchestrated by Hamas, which is still ongoing today. In a matter of hours, terror gripped the French political class, which united in its support for the battered country.
All with the notable exception of La France Insoumise (LFI), which refuses to strongly condemn the terrorist attack perpetrated by the Hamas movement. On Sunday, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne even slammed the "revolting ambiguities" of a part of the left, which has been torn apart since the outbreak of war.
"Violence produces and reproduces only itself"
In a statement posted on social media on Saturday, the rebellious movement said: "The armed offensive by Palestinian forces led by Hamas comes in a context of intensifying Israeli occupation policy in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem." The Insoumise-in-chief, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, later explained on X (ex-Twitter) that "all the violence unleashed against Israel and Gaza proves only one thing: violence produces and reproduces only itself."
A line also taken up by LFI MP Louis Boyard: "Too long that France has turned a blind eye to colonization and abuses in Palestine. For too long France has been blaming the violence of the Israeli state and that of Palestinian armed groups."
This is enough to provoke ire on the Socialist benches, where some elected officials have even stepped up to the plate to squeeze the position of their rebellious allies. "To the useful idiots of the Hamas terrorists who exonerate them by relativizing in the name of the political impasse of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the continuation of the settlements, Netanyahu... You disgust me. The fact that they are on the left is unbearable," said Socialist MP Jérôme Guedj.