Manuel Bompard explains why he wore a red triangle during the debate

POLITICS – News “moral panic”, as Sandrine Rousseau wrote? Or a vain attempt to attack the left, four days before the legislative elections? When he arrived on the TF1 set on Tuesday evening where he debated with Jordan Bardella and Gabriel Attal, Manuel Bompard should not have imagined finding himself at the heart of a mini-controversy over a detail of his appearance.

The coordinator of La France insoumise (LFI) wore a pin representing a red triangle on the lapel of his jacket. A non-event for those who know the Insoumis and know to what extent they are attached to this historical symbol, which never leaves the lapel of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s jacket. The red triangle was in fact the sign of distinction awarded by the Nazis to political deportees (communists, socialists, etc.) during the Second World War. Likewise, homosexuals were assigned the pink triangle. In the post-war period, the red triangle became an emblem of resistance to Nazi ideas, and by extension to those of the far right, particularly in Belgium, where the Fédération Générale du Travail union revived it.

“Trial of ignoble intention”

Historically, the red triangle is a strong symbol of the labor movement. On May 1, 1890, it appeared for the first time on the jackets of workers demanding better working conditions. The three points of the triangle each representing “ 8 hours »: 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure, 8 hours of rest.

But the journalist from Release Jean Quatremer estimated on X that the accessory is “became since October 7 the symbol of Palestinian Islamists in Gaza”. The polemicist Raphaël Enthoven followed suit by considering that it is “the symbol of Hamas”. “This is a call to murder Jews”, he dared to write. In fact, the triangle has been taken over by certain Palestinian militias fighting against Israel in the Gaza Strip, among a whole bunch of other symbols (Palestinian flag, keffiyeh, etc.), but is that enough to make us forget about it? the historical significance?

“The red triangle is the symbol of anti-fascist resistance, in memory of the political deportees who wore itreplied Manuel Bompard. I’ve been wearing it for almost 10 years. Your tweet is an absolutely despicable act of intent. » Green MP Sandrine Rousseau made a point of recalling that “the red triangle comes from the history of concentration camps, of political opponents. The members of LFI have absolutely always worn it. » Several archives attest to this. In a video filmed in 2011, Jean-Luc Mélenchon explained that wearing it on the lapel of his jacket was a way for him to show that “everything opposes him to the National Front” : “I put it on, I never take it off. » For the past ten years, he has hardly made public appearances without this symbol. Well before, therefore, the terrorist acts of October 7.

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