The parties of the French left, which last year managed to run together in the parliamentary elections, are on the verge of breaking up due to their deep political and moral dissensions in the analysis of the new war in Gaza. The equidistance and ambiguity of La France Insubmisa (LFI), led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and its insistent refusal to describe as terrorism the massive attack against Israeli civilians launched by Hamas on Saturday, have outraged many socialists, environmentalists and even and all moderate members of LFI.
The New Ecologist and Social Popular Union (Nupes) was always a varied and difficult political artifact to manage. Its cohesion and continuity were already in doubt before the new eruption of the Israeli-Palestinian volcano. But a statement from LFI was the final straw. “The armed offensive of the Palestinian forces carried out by Hamas intervenes in a context of intensification of the Palestinian occupation policy,” said the note. LFI avoided the word terrorism and urged both sides to negotiate for a peace that “must begin with the end of colonization.”
Deputy Danièle Obono added more fuel to the fire by evoking the right of the Palestinians “to fight for their freedom”. Mélenchon himself lashed out at the Representative Council of Institutions in France (Crif), accusing it of “forcing everyone to align with the position of the far-right Israeli Government”.
Aware of the great discomfort of his left-wing partners, LFI deputy François Ruffin, who defends less radical positions and is credited with the possibility of replacing Mélenchon when he retires, gave an interview to Le Monde to correct the shot. Ruffin called Hamas a “fanatical, terrorist organization,” and called on his co-religionists “to use strong words for horrible acts; otherwise our word is discredited” and “is not up to the gravity of the events”.
One of the figures most critical of Mélenchon was the mayor of Paris, the socialist Anne Hidalgo, who was not surprised by the LFI leader’s latest reaction and recalled his unacceptable statements in the past about the war of Ukraine or on the repression of the Uyghurs in China. According to Hidalgo, the future of a united left is mortgaged by “this unbearable patriarchal figure of Jean-Luc Mélenchon”.
For years now, Mélenchon has been labeled by his critics, especially on the right, as encouraging “Islamo-leftism” in order to win votes among the French of Muslim faith and immigrant origin. Philosopher and academic Alain Finkielkraut stated in Le Figaro that “LFI is nothing more than France subjected to radical Islam”.
