Israeli-Palestinian conflict: LFI committed “a political mistake” by not qualifying Hamas as “terrorist”, concedes Clémentine Autain

A week after the attacks perpetrated by Hamas on Israeli soil, the death toll of which rose to more than 1,300, La France insoumise (LFI) still refuses to firmly condemn and describe the Palestinian movement as “terrorist”. Guest of the “Grand Jury-RTL-Le Figaro-M6” on Sunday, the LFI MP for Seine-Saint-Denis, Clémentine Autain, conceded a “political error” on the part of her movement.

In its first press release, in which “a context of intensification of the Israeli occupation policy” was highlighted, LFI expressed “words” that were neither “strong” enough nor “clear” enough. “I don't understand, personally, why we have trouble with this term 'terrorist',” she continued. Before distancing himself a little further: “what Hamas did was Islamist terrorism.” Only her colleague from the Somme, François Ruffin, had before her marked her difference with the rebellious position in the columns of Le Monde.

Despite this step aside, Clémentine Autain united behind her movement, whose “starting fault” was according to her “instrumentalized” and “caricatured” by her opponents. “We cannot say that LFI supports Hamas. They want us to be told that since it is Islamist terrorism, we can attack Palestinian civilians,” she thundered. And to add: “we were ordered to choose a side, as if we had to be on the side of the crazy Hamas or Israel which is a colonizer.”

While Israel is due to launch its ground counter-offensive in Gaza shortly, the former member of the PCF at the same time denounced the “chain of war crimes” in which the Jewish state would have “engaged”. “Israel has the right to defend itself. But here we are talking about crimes against humanity. White phosphorus is circulating, it seems. Do you really think that with the law of retaliation, we will find peace?”, she lashed out.

In this “cycle of violence” in the Middle East, Insoumise criticizes Emmanuel Macron and the government for “not making France’s voice heard strongly enough” to find a “peace solution”. “When I hear over and over again: unconditional support (from France to Israel), it is giving a blank check for blind revenge,” she scolded, in reference to the words spoken Tuesday in the hemicycle by the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet.