One recent day, President Macron praised the great humanist and resistance qualities of Joséphine Baker during her enthronement in the Pantheon; the next day, he is in the United Arab Emirates (a quasi-dictatorship) to complete a contract for the sale of 80 Rafale fighter jets with this Gulf country; a state that does not care about human rights.
The French president then took the opportunity to affirm that if he later went to Saudi Arabia, that does not mean that he is complacent with the leaders of this country, that he forgot the question of the murder in 2018 of journalist Jamal. Khashoggi, but that he ensures the “stability of the region” and that he must therefore deal with Crown Prince Mohamed ben Salman (MBS), apparently involved personally or by his entourage in the murder of the Saudi journalist. But given Saudi Arabia’s geographic and military importance, France, he said, must deal with its government, even if it seriously flouts human rights.
But Emmanuel Macron’s argument clearly does not hold water. The bottom line is simply a question of big money. For morality and the defense of human rights, we will come back! In this regard, the French president acts like all his predecessors, de Gaulle included. Poor Josephine Baker, if she had seen all this hypocrisy, she would probably have refused this homage to the Pantheon. By going to meet MBS, the French president crossed the line.
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