Jean-Luc Mélenchon defends himself against accusations of anti-Semitism

The leader of France Insoumise continues to describe Israeli military operations in Gaza as “genocide”.

Accused of fueling anti-Semitism, notably through his statements since October 7, Jean-Luc Mélenchon defends himself in an interview published Thursday, December 7 by the magazine Orient XXI “for failing in his duty” towards the Jewish community. The founder of France Insoumise believes that this community has, on the contrary, “abandoned” and persists on his line, believing that the Israeli government is committing “genocide” in Gaza.

“I feel abandoned by those I have defended all my life. We have never failed in our duty. Nor in the principles on which it is based”declares the leader of LFI. “The Jewish community that I knew, with whom I campaigned when I was elected from Massy, ​​lived in debate and accepted its differences. There were the ‘cultual’ and the ‘cultural’. The left, ‘was the ‘cultural'”he adds.

Defense of its position regarding the war

“I called for a ceasefire on October 7,” he recalls, while this call, the same day of the Hamas attack, is one of the reproaches addressed to him by the rest of the political class. “We have never disputed the fact that acts could be of a terrorist nature,” he said on December 2 on France Inter.

“In this case, the action (of the Israeli Prime Minister) against the Gazans is not legitimate. It is not self-defense, but genocide”he maintains in the interview with Orient XXI. “There are mass protests in many countries, including the United States of America, in which large segments of the local Jewish communities are participating.”notes the politician, who notes that “in no country in the world, except perhaps in a large part of the French media class, has an anti-Arab, anti-Muslim divide become established”.