Four months after the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas on Israeli soil, France will honor its dead.
On February 7, a national tribute will be paid to the 42 French victims of this massacre by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, on the Esplanade des Invalides.
On this occasion, all political parties were invited.
But in a letter addressed to the Head of State, the representatives of five families of victims “solemnly
requested
that any presence of rebellious France be prohibited
”
.
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Questioned on this subject on BFMTV, Sunday February 4, the coordinator of the far-left party Manuel Bompard nevertheless indicated that he and his political party intended to go there.
“It is normal that France pays tribute to them.
It is a national tribute, in which all political groups are invited, and we also wish to pay tribute to the victims of Hamas
,” he explained.
And added:
“We understand the pain and grief of the victims’ families and we share it
. ”
“It’s normal that we can go there”
Since October 7, La France insoumise has condemned the actions committed by Hamas, calling them
“war crimes
,” but has always refused to publicly designate the group as terrorist.
In their letter, the representatives of the five families believe that the party has demonstrated
“indecency”
,
“lack of respect”
,
“relativism”
and
“negationism”
, accusing it of having become
“very officially the 'Islamo-leftist' political armed wing of Islamist movements
.
They fear in particular that LFI will take advantage of the opportunity of this tribute to make it
“a political platform”
.
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In response, Manuel Bompard first underlined that the wish not to see his party in this tribute only came from
“four
(in reality five, Editor's note)
families of victims, out of the 42 French people killed on October 7”
.
He then wanted to
“reassure the victims’ families”
:
“It is in no way our intention to transform a moment of national tribute into a political moment.
I remind you that we pay homage to the dead, and that the political controversy can therefore pass to the side
.
“It is normal that we can go there
,” insisted the national coordinator, believing that if LFI does not go there,
“you
(the media, Editor’s note)
will then blame me for not sharing the pain and the emotion families of victims, which is not the case
.
Mathilde Panot personally targeted
Before the publication of the letter to Emmanuel Macron, the boss of LFI deputies Mathilde Panot had already indicated that she would attend the tribute.
“I will be present (...) and I have asked that a tribute be paid to all the French victims of this war in the Middle East
,” she announced, in reference to the Franco-Palestinians killed in Gaza by the Israeli army.
In their letter, the representatives of the five families had personally targeted Mathilde Panot.
“(His) presence would constitute an insult to the memory of the victims
,” they said.
The letter recalled that the leader of LFI in the Assembly had described former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne as a
“survivor”
, whose family was a victim of the Shoah.
More generally, the victims' families accused LFI of bearing
"a very heavy responsibility for the explosion of Judeophobia in our country"
.