the front page of the newspaper Le Monde covered the anniversary of the attack well, contrary to criticism

INTERNATIONAL – A matter of timing. On this anniversary of the attack of October 7, 2023 during which Hamas caused more than 1,200 victims in Israel, several voices were raised to wrongly accuse the newspaper The World for ignoring this tragic event. Indeed, while many French newspapers had chosen to devote their front pages to Israeli victims and the war that has been raging for a year, Le Monde displays this headline: “ Gaza crushed by a year of war and chaos.

At first glance, one might believe that the daily chose to turn a blind eye to the Hamas attack, to ignore the Israeli victims and the captured hostages. However, this is a misunderstanding, because the front page in question is actually that of Tuesday October 8. The October 7 edition had been published the day before, arriving in readers’ mailboxes this Monday morning. This was also dedicated to the anniversary of the Hamas attack.

The newspaper has published a dedicated edition October 7

Faced with criticism, The World had to remind him of his publication schedule via a message on his X account (formerly Twitter). Indeed, it is one of the rare French newspapers to be a “evening daily”. Its edition is completed every day at 10:30 a.m., then sent to the printer.

A digital version of the newspaper is published at the end of the morning, around 11 a.m., and the first paper versions reach Paris and major French cities by midday. The newspaper arrives in the rest of France during the night, particularly among subscribers.

So much so that the edition received by readers this Monday morning was aptly titled “Israel: the endless trauma of October 7”, as you can see below. In this special edition, the journalists returned to the scene of the attack and wrote several articles about the impact of this tragic day on Israeli society.

A misunderstanding of the pace of publication

Before recalling its pace of publication, which explains this discrepancy, the newspaper Le Monde attracted the wrath of several personalities with its front page of October 8. ” Miserable !! This is how Le Monde headlines the day commemorating the anti-Semitic massacres of October 7!! “, For example, the former LR MP, Meyer Habib, got carried away with X at the sight of this front page. “ Who can still buy such a tea towel!! Who can still read such a rag?? »he added.

Same reaction from Julien Dray, former PS deputy and co-founder of SOS Racisme, who asks indignantly: “ This front page from today, Le Monde? The World Upside Down? “. While Sandrine Sebbane, director of RCJ (for Radio of the Jewish community) mentions “ an infamy, a final spit for all the victims of October 7 including 48 French people ».

On CNews, Franco-Israeli director Élie Chouraqui fumes: “yes Gaza is crushed but why? Who started this? Hamas or Israel? Who went to attack kids who were partying and dancing? Monsters attacked them and that’s what started this war.” The columnists obviously did not think to remind him of the functioning of this title well known to the French press.

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