Under fire from criticism since Monday, the La France insoumise conference on Palestine at the University of Lille was maintained despite its ban. Relocated, it must still take place this Thursday, but
“in a room”
in Lille, Manuel Bompard said this Thursday morning on TF1.
From the presidential majority to the National Rally (RN), via Les Républicains (LR), protests against the event multiplied this Monday. In question, the presence of the logo of the organizing association, Libre Palestine, on the poster presenting the conference, which also includes Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Rima Hassan, seventh on the list of La France insoumise (LFI) in the elections European. At the heart of the controversy, the logo of the pro-Palestinian student association which, under the name
“Free Palestine”,
represents a territory which includes Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
“We cannot tolerate, in a French university, such a conference by La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Rima Hassan, who, through the logo “Free Palestine”, deny the existence of the State of Israel
,” the LR president of Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand, was indignant on X Monday.
“A form of censorship”
Believing that
“the conditions are no longer met to guarantee the serenity of the debates”,
the University of Lille finally announced the cancellation of the evening in a press release published on Wednesday. If the Lille faculty closed the doors of its enclosure to the rebels, the meeting found refuge elsewhere.
“It will be held in a room and the information has already been sent to the people who have registered to participate
,” said Manuel Bompard on TF1 this Thursday morning. In order not to
“leave room for provocateurs”
, the national coordinator of LFI preferred to keep quiet the name of the meeting place.
Pointing out the attempts
to “instrumentalize the organization of this conference”
by certain political figures coming
“from the extreme right to the Macronists”,
the Bouches-du-Rhône deputy denounced
“a questioning of the freedom of 'expression'
and
'a form of censorship'
.
“This ban is scandalous
,” he exclaimed. Coming back to the logo of the Libre Palestine association, Manuel Bompard brushed aside the controversy:
“It’s ridiculous. This association has been registered with the prefecture and is approved by the university with its logo. This logo represents the region in question when we debate the situation in the Middle East.