A year after the Hamas raid in Israel, an evening was organized in tribute to the victims and hostages in Paris.
Michel Barnier’s mention of the French president sparked boos.
The president of Crif, for his part, accused rebellious France of placing itself in “the camp of dishonor”.
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One year after the October 7 attack in Israel
A year after the deadly Hamas attack on Israeli soil, Michel Barnier promised this Monday evening that his government would continue to “fight anti-Semitism by all means” during a ceremony in tribute to the victims, organized at the Palais des Sports-Dôme in Paris.
“You can count on the President of the Republic, on the Prime Minister (…) on all members of the government to protect our compatriots of the Jewish faith”declared the Prime Minister in particular, during this ceremony organized at the invitation of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif). This mention of Emmanuel Macron sparked boos from a few rows of the audience, which can be heard in the video above. Some in the room shouted “weapons”in reference to the French president’s threat to stop supplying weapons to the Israeli army, before applause drowned out the boos.
“Ceasefire”
Earlier in the day, Emmanuel Macron received the families of the two Franco-Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. The president promised them that France “made every effort to obtain a ceasefire and an agreement allowing the release of Ohad Yahalomi and Ofer Kalderon as a priority, and that it urged all parties to move in this direction without further delay”. He also met the families of the October 7 victims residing in France.
Some 4,000 people responded to Crif’s call for the tribute ceremony. Many personalities made the trip such as the former president Nicolas Sarkozy, the former Prime Minister Manuel Valls, the president of Medef, Meyer Habib, the writer Bernard-Henri Lévy, the president of the Ile-de-France region Valérie Pécresse or the president of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet.
“Camp of Dishonor”
La France insoumise, whose initial reaction after the attacks of October 7, 2023 in Israel had been widely criticized, also paid tribute to the victims. In a press release sent this Monday evening, LFI requests the “immediate release” Hamas hostages and denounces a “terrorist act”. A declaration which did not prevent the president of Crif Yonathan Arfi from launching a violent attack in the stands against the movement of Jean-Luc Mélenchon which is in “the camp of dishonor” because, according to him, LFI “sees resistance fighters where universal conscience recognizes terrorists” et “chooses to hysterize our public debate, by cultivating clientelism and identity assignments”.
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In Strasbourg, 500 people gathered in front of the town hall, despite the rain, at the call of Jewish associations. “One year. One year since our lives stopped”declared Alexandre Levy, spokesperson for the organizers. In Lyon, 2,100 people gathered at the end of the day on Place Bellecour, without slogans or acronyms, but carrying numerous French flags and photos of the victims. In Marseille, which has the second largest Jewish community in France, several hundred people also gathered to commemorate the victims of October 7.
