La France Insoumise withdraws nomination from candidate for anti-Semitic messages

Reda Belkadi, who was a candidate in Loir-et-Cher, posted anti-Semitic tweets in 2018.

La France insoumise announced, Thursday June 27, that it would withdraw its nomination from a candidate in the legislative elections in Loir-et-Cher, Reda Belkadi, for anti-Semitic tweets that he wrote “six years ago”. “After checking, [le comité électoral de la France insoumise] notes that this candidate has indeed violated the charter of commitment signed by all the candidates nominated by La France Insoumise through which each undertakes to reject all sexist, racist, anti-Semitic, LGBTIphobic remarks, behaviors and violence and all discrimination”, writes the party in a press release.

“The electoral committee of La France insoumise immediately withdraws its nomination from Mr. Belkadi in the first constituency of Loir-et-Cher and refers the matter to the committee for respect for principles to obtain his immediate exclusion from La France insoumise”, concludes the press release.

Reda Belkadi, who was a candidate in particular against the outgoing MoDem deputy Marc Fesneau, reacted on Facebook. “I discovered, stunned, dozens of absolutely unacceptable tweets that I published several years ago,” he wrote, recognizing “a cruel lack, at the time, of training and education” on several subjects, “in particular the fight against anti-Semitism“. The now ex-candidate says he understands this “right decision” And “accept it with humility”. “JI would like to apologize to anyone who may have been disappointed by my past comments,” he said.

Opponents of La France insoumise often criticize the movement for being ambiguous on the question of the fight against anti-Semitism, particularly since the Hamas attacks of October 7 in Israel. A candidate endorsed by LFI in Seine-Saint-Denis, Aly Diouara, notably described Raphaël Glucksmann (PS-Place publique) as a “Zionist candidate” during the campaign for the European elections.