However, his party's elected officials were not wanted by the victims' families.
The leader of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, praised this Wednesday the “great dignity” of the LFI deputies who attended the national tribute to the victims of October 7.
Invited by the Presidency of the Republic, our deputies @MathildePanot, @mbompard, @ericcoquerel and @CarolineFiat54 represented us at the Invalides with great dignity.
Rudeness and provocations never make them forget that they embody France in the…
— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) February 7, 2024
“Invited by the Presidency of the Republic, our deputies Mathilde Panot, Manuel Bompard, Éric Coquerel and Caroline Fiat, represented us at Les Invalides with great dignity.
Rudeness and provocations never make them forget that they embody France in national ceremonies, nor the respect due to the dead,” the former presidential candidate commented on X (ex-Twitter).
An “indecent” presence
The presence of these LFI parliamentarians was controversial, particularly because of the refusal of the LFI leadership to qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Even if they have “the right to be present”, their comments “which in a certain way justified what happened” make their presence “indecent”, commented the president of Crif, Yonathan Arfi.
“I hope that they
(the LFI)
will reflect and sincerely associate themselves with the pain of the families who are victims of terrorist acts,” commented the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet on Radio J this Wednesday morning.
Read alsoTribute to the French victims of Hamas: images of the moving ceremony at the Invalides
Many other political leaders and those from the Jewish community were also outraged by the announced presence of LFI officials.
“How can you imagine going to a tribute first for murdered French people when the families themselves ask you not to come?
It’s indecency, it’s dishonor, it’s cynicism,” for example, attacked the Minister for Equality between Women and Men Aurore Bergé at the microphone of CNews-Europe 1.
The deputy Aymeric Caron (related to LFI) was also booed on his arrival at the Invalides, under cries of “collaborator”, “anti-Semitic” or even “shame”.
The ecologist Sandrine Rousseau was also treated as a “collaborator” upon leaving.
“In the name of what can someone deny me the right to emotion and sorrow?
», had previously launched Manuel Bompard, present at the Invalides.
The LFI coordinator denounced a “double standard” with Gaza, where more than 27,500 people have been killed since the start of the Israeli offensive, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.