This Sunday the event “ October 7: the day before “. A day organized by Paroles d’Honneur and Urgence Palestine, with, on the program, three round tables bringing together intellectuals and activists to take stock of the history of 76 years of colonization in Palestine, the current events of the genocide in Gaza and the the extension of the war towards Lebanon, but also on the political solidarity which has been expressed over all these years with the resistance of the Palestinian people. The opportunity to make a different point of view heard than that of the French government and the media, who have been seeking for more than a year to muzzle any speech openly denouncing the genocide. [journéeorganiséeparParolesd’honneuretUrgencePalestineavecauprogrammetroistablesrondesréunissantintellectuelsetmilitantspourfairelepointsurl’histoirede76ansdecolonisationenPalestinel’actualitédugénocideàGazaetl’extensiondelaguerreversleLibanmaisaussisurlasolidaritépolitiquequis’exprimedepuistoutescesannéesaveclarésistancedupeuplepalestinienL’occasiondefaireentendreunautresondeclochequeceluidugouvernementfrançaisetdesmédiasquicherchentdepuisplusd’unanàmuselertoutdiscoursdénonçantouvertementlegénocide
But in the public, several UEJF activists had organized themselves to interrupt the debates and silence the discussion. In the middle of an exchange, the latter stood up with signs before posting a video a few hours later on Twitter purporting to show the “violence” with which the security service would have escorted them towards the exit, and asserting: “ no contradictory words are possible. No word of peace. Only the apology for terrorism. » The objective of the maneuver was clear: to equate support for Palestine with support for “terrorism” and to silence any critical speech on the colonial situation in Palestine and the genocide in Gaza.
As shown in a video extract widely distributed since then: to raise awareness of their action, all means are good. We see, during the provocation, an activist pathetically throwing himself to the ground, feigning pain, pretending to receive blows. All this to end up proclaiming loud and clear that we were prevented from expressing ourselves… When Palestinian and Lebanese children die under the bombs, those who stand up in solidarity are first prohibited from demonstrating by the French state, then summoned by its police to justify their positions, on which side is the barbarism, the violence, the repression? Who is deprived of speech, silenced by force, threatened for the offense of opinion?
This type of gross provocation is neither trivial nor innocent. On November 25 and March 8, the collective We will live used the same type of arguments and methods to exploit the day of struggle for women’s rights and attack feminist processions in demonstration. The objective was already the same: to construct a scandal from scratch and force a media panic to attack feminist and anti-racist solidarity with Palestine.
Actions which at the same time serve to indicate targets for state repression, which has come down hard in recent months with searches, trials for “apology of terrorism”, bans on meetings, and even expulsions of activists. are like Mariam Abu Daqqa. While Patrick Hetzel, Minister of Higher Education, has called in recent days to intensify repression on students who denounce the genocide, we must stand up against these actions of political censorship. Solidarity, supporting Palestine is not a crime!
