4 days before the first round of the early legislative elections, the Marseille LFI candidate for the legislative elections, Sébastien Delogu, publishes a video on Instagram: a montage from a video game where certain LFI elected officials are staged as fighters. Very quickly, the publication created a buzz on social networks and some accused it of being “anti-Semitic”.
This Wednesday, June 26, it was a video published on the Instagram account of the Marseille LFI deputy, Sébastien Delogu, which caused controversy. This is a video edit created by one of the chosen one’s supporters, from the video game League of Legends. And if this publication provokes so much reaction, it is because some of her political opponents and Internet users judge her.anti-Semitic“.
France 3 Provence-Alpes explains to you why this video poses a problem and what Sébastien Delogu, who responded to us, thinks about it.
What’s in the video
The day before, this Tuesday, June 25, an account Panot, Rima Hassan and even Sébastien Delogu. This video was itself sent by an Internet user.
The elected officials are represented as fighters in a video game called League of Legends. They face Emmanuel Macron and the former Franco-Israeli LR MP, Meyer Habib. The latter had a heated exchange with LFI MP David Guirand on Tuesday, May 28, when Sébastien Delogu brandished the Palestinian flag in the chamber.
What sparks the controversy
If the video resembles a classic montage as found on certain X accounts, it is nevertheless controversial. In question: a box of frozen pizza appears on it, from the Buitoni brand, where it says “stone oven“. Under the comments of the publication, some Internet users see a reference to the horror of the Shoah.
Another symbol highlighted by detractors of Sébastien Delogu, the Franco-Palestinian MP who strikes Mayer Habib with a spear. In recent months, this LR deputy had caused controversy for his remarks towards the Palestinian people, describing them for example as “cancer“.
>>> Also read: “If you organize yourself, you blow up the town hall”: what do we know about this controversial video by LFI deputy Sébastien Delogu?
What Sébastien Delogu thinks
The LFI MP republished this video in full, without adding anything, this Wednesday, June 26. And for him, it is not subject to controversy. “I don’t understand why people are panicking. I post videos to feed social networks. People are always making a fuss“, he tells us.
Appalled by the anti-Semitic accusations directed at him, he explains that this box of frozen pizza actually refers to “pizzas brought during left union negotiations“for the legislative elections, this Monday, June 10. Our colleagues from Libération mentioned this anecdote. “The person who created the video wanted to hide, I think, the arrow so as not to call for violence“, continues Sébastien Delogu.
For those who are standing in the legislative elections in the 7th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône, this attack comes from the extreme right. “Since I waved the Palestinian flag in the Assembly, I have been targeted by the far right and the fascists. I represent everything they hate.“The elected official claims to be the victim of telephone harassment or directly at his home.
“They want to discredit me. They find reports out of context every timehe emphasizes. It’s a way of avoiding talking about politics and the program. This is dirtying me up.“He also points the finger at the left which he considers to be the best.”discredit“.
Pour “avoid any confusion“against him, Sébastien Delogu first republished this same video edit by changing the pizza”stone oven” into a kebab pizza, before finally removing her completely from his social networks in the middle of the day.
What his detractors think
With this legislative campaign, anything goes. This video edit therefore did not go unnoticed by the detractors of the LFI candidate.
“The candidates of the rebellious France surf on the buzz generated by their multiple anti-Semitic slip-ups, they feed on our misfortunes and have fun with it, but above all, never apologize“, writes a user on X.
An opportunity also for certain media to seize the controversy. In Cyril Hanouna’s new political show, On marche sur la tête on Europe 1, the host returned to this story, this Wednesday, June 26, by giving the floor to a listener in tears. Jean-Marc Morandini’s information website also addressed this affair by calling it “of unabashed anti-Semitism“.
