The radical left party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon is again in hot water following the controversial remarks of its MP Danièle Obono, who has been accused of “justifying terrorism”.
Asked on Sud Radio whether Hamas was a “resistance movement”, Obono of La France Insoumise (LFI) replied, “It is an Islamist political group that has an armed wing, which aims to liberate Palestine and which is resisting occupation [by the State of Israel]”.
While Politicians from across the political spectrum, including the left and LFI, had strong and immediate reactions, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and the Jewish association Jeunesse Française Juive have lodged complaints with the courts, accusing her of “justifying terrorism”.
Speaking of her comments on Sud Radio, Obono explained in a social media post that her comments were “neither an excuse, nor support, nor an endorsement for its abject war crimes against Israeli civilians”.
Still, Mélenchon’s movement was asked to explain the position expressed by the MP.
Part of LFI explained that Obono had not said that Hamas was a “resistance movement” but that “some see it as a resistance movement”.
MP Arnaud Le Gall stated on his party’s behalf, “Hamas is not a resistance movement. It is the product of decades of war, but also a certain policy of the extreme right-wing Israeli government”.
Several LFI MPs quickly told the press that the group was “unanimous” in saying that Obono’s comments were not shared.
LFI deputies Alexis Corbière, Clémentine Autain, François Ruffin, and Raquel Garrido have all publicly expressed dissatisfaction.
More generally, they are critical of the line taken by Mélenchon in the last ten days or so.
LFI speaks of “acts of terror” and sometimes of “terrorist acts” but does not officially describe Hamas as a “terrorist organisation”.
La France Insoumise has not joined “the unanimous condemnation of terrorist barbarity”, lamented Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, attacking the radical left-wing party: “You are excluding yourselves from the republican field”, she said.
Speaking to the press at the National Assembly on Tuesday, LFI MP Raquel Garrido said of the “frustration” of several LFI members and activists, including some who would not have expressed such sentiments publicly, calling on the party’s leadership to “acknowledge its mistakes” in its reactions to the Hamas attack.
Communist leader Fabien Roussel described Obono’s comments as “unbearable”.
“These outrageous statements make our positions on the ceasefire, the siege of Gaza and the two-state solution invisible and inaudible”, added Olivier Faure, First Secretary of the Socialist Party.
(Davide Basso | Euractiv.fr)
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