Le Figaro Nantes
The municipal council meeting on Friday, October 6 had started - for once - serenely. After a minute's silence, the leader of the right-wing opposition, Laurence Garnier, thanked the PS mayor, Johanna Rolland, for her remarks made in "solidarity withthe Jewish State". With her colleague Erwan Huchet, of the Democrats and Progressives group (supporters of the presidential majority), the senator LR had however warned about deliberation n ° 40, relating in particular to the allocation of a subsidy of 2000,44 euros to the Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS <>), whose "remarks make [them] uncomfortable", including the refusal of the latter to consider the events of last weekend as terrorist.
The mayor of Nantes replied that she would use the morning to study the issue, specifying that "Hamas is not the Palestinian people.To say that Hamas is a terrorist organizationcannot lead to the disqualification of actors who support the Palestinian people."
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'Doublespeak'
So when around 16 p.m., the subsidy was finally voted on, it was too much. The elected representatives of both groups decided to leave the council suddenly. "Either it's cynicism or naivety," Garnier said. "I advise you to take a look at the association's website," she told the left-wing majority. "They talk about armed offensives and military operations, not to mention terrorism. [...] You are preparing to support a structure that refuses to name things," she lamented, adding that in Brest, two days ago, the socialist mayor postponed the deliberation on the allocation of a subsidy of 1200 euros to the same association because of the context.
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I think that's outrageous. In the morning, we are given a respectful and republican minute of silence. And here, we are subsidizing an association that does not have a word for the victims," castigated the councillor and candidate for the 2026 municipal elections, Foulques Chombart de Lauwe, who was very upset at the exit. Macronist Erwan Huchet denounced a "double standard". "In the morning, we mark a minute of silence with our hands on our hearts for the victims and in the afternoon the mayor of Nantes and her allies from Nupes grant a subsidy to those who refuse to name the terrorist nature of these atrocities," the two opposition groups said in a statement sent out in the aftermath.
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'Legal framework'
While speaking again about the "terrorist acts of Hamas last Saturday", Pierre-Emmanuel Marais, elected representative of the majority in charge of the delegation of international relations, recalled that AFPS 44 was an association that the city has been subsidizing since 2010. They are "peace activists who work within a legal framework". A language shared by Mayor Johanna Rolland who, after inquiring with the City's services, indicated that "nothing leads us to think that today, there is an element that goes beyond the legal framework".
While she admits to having a difference of opinion on some of the terms used by the association to describe Hamas, she believes that this does not prevent them from being given aid. And that local authorities do not always subsidize associations with which they agree 100%. Finally, she said that the money was going to be used to put on a show: "That's what we're talking about..." We can't help but think that through shows, the association will campaign for causes that we don't share," replied Laurence Garnier, flabbergasted. A dissociation of votes was accepted for this deliberation, which included the payment of subsidies to other international structures.