that “come those who want to bow”, believes François Hollande

The former head of state recalls, on franceinfo Wednesday February 7, that this ceremony is “a republican tribute”, therefore “parliamentarians are invited”.

That “come those who want to bow”estimates on franceinfo Wednesday February 7 François Hollande, while several families of French victims of the Hamas attack on October 7 in Israel, wrote to Emmanuel Macron to ask him to ban the presence of La France insoumise, at the national tribute organized this Wednesday at the Invalides.

“I don’t really like it when there are controversies that cloud the tribute itself”, explains the former President of the Republic. However, François Hollande “understands the anger of the families after the comments made by the leaders of LFI the day after October 7 and their inability to say that Hamas was a terrorist organization and that it was a terrorist attack”. Like the Elysée, the former head of state refers to protocol. This ceremony remains “a republican tribute” and so “parliamentarians are invited”.

François Hollande will attend this national tribute paid to the 42 French victims in this conflict, because he is “in solidarity with pain” relatives of the victims. The former head of state does not want to condition his presence on the absence of this or that political party: “I am on the side of the victims’ families. I do not look at the other participants.” He draws a parallel with the demonstration against anti-Semitism on November 12, 2023: “There was also a controversy over the presence of the National Rally. I go where I have to go and the Republic must always be there, beyond the people.”

A difference between “victims of terrorism and victims of war”

Asked about the “memorial time” envisaged by the Elysée for the French victims in Gaza, François Hollande believes that “it can’t be the same tribute”. The former occupant of the Elysée wishes to recall that“a life is a life, one life is equivalent to another life”. However, there is a difference between “victims of terrorism and victims of war”. In the first case, “it is in a certain way to be attacked as a Frenchman or as a defender of a way of life” while in the second case, it is a question of “collateral victims like there are in Ukraine”.

François Hollande continues his argument: “For victims of terrorism there have always been tributes, for victims of war there can be ceremonies but it is not the same process.” Cautiously, he emphasizes that this does not mean that we cannot criticize Israeli policy: “We can say that we do not agree on this headlong rush, which implicates civilian populations, that there is an intolerable humanitarian situation in Gaza but it is not of the same nature.” To conclude, he repeats that“a life is a life”. So, “we must also have recognition and respect for those who fell in Gaza even if we unfortunately do not know the number of French people who may have suffered this fate.”