the rebels make Palestine the keystone of their strategy and divide their sympathizers

Jean-Luc Mélenchon and lawyer Rima Hassan took part in a meeting in the North on Wednesday. The conflict in the Middle East dominated the evening, a strategy which divides the electorate on the left.

La France insoumise (LFI) was in a meeting on Wednesday April 17 in Roubaix (North), with Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the lawyer of Palestinian origin Rima Hassan, a few hours after the cancellation by the University of Lille of the LFI conference on Gaza scheduled within its walls on Thursday. The conference is finally held elsewhere in Lille on Thursday evening. The conflict in the Middle East was discussed at length at the meeting. The rebels make Palestine the keystone of their electoral strategy.

A few words from Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and the room rises as one man. “Ceasefire! Stop, stop, enough is enough, people have suffered enough!” says the former presidential candidate. Palestinian flags are waved in the front rows. Mustapha Lougrada is one of those calling for a ceasefire. “There are children dying every day, and I think it is also the role of a movement like La France insoumise to denounce and alert public opinion about what is happening in Gaza.”

“I’m not afraid to say it, it’s genocide.”

Mustapha Lougrada, LFI supporter

at franceinfo

Accusations of genocide shared by Riad, 17, with his pin in the colors of Palestine on the lapel of his jacket. “We have the impression in the media world that there are double standards, he blurted. With Ukraine, yes we are all there, but for Gaza, it doesn’t matter.” The young man supports the rebels’ strategy of making Gaza a campaign theme for these elections. “When the majority of European countries do not recognize Palestine as a state, yes it is a problem.”

Former sympathizers cooled

Like Riad, the activists and supporters present at the Roubaix meeting are all convinced that Gaza is a European problem. But this positioning of the rebels on Palestine repels some voters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon in 2022. “What did it cost them to say: ‘Yes, Hamas, they are fundamentalists and terrorists’? It’s clear, clear and precise,” believes Serge, who did not digest LFI’s reaction after the Hamas attack on Israel. Serge is going to vote communist in the European elections.

“There, we are completely outside the game. It’s a choice that they made, it’s not just a departure from the road.”

Serge, former voter of Jean-Luc Mélenchon

at franceinfo

Valentin will not vote for LFI either on June 9, despite his Jean Luc Mélenchon ballot in the last presidential election. He says he is baffled by the pro-Palestinian strategy of the rebels. “The point of view is divisive, he judges. I think that’s not necessarily a very good calculation. I can’t help but think that this is an electoral logic: seeking votes in minorities who are most likely to be pro-Palestinian.”

The rebellious general staff also assumes to seek a burst of participation in working-class neighborhoods by raising the Palestinian question. A recent Radio France poll puts Manon Aubry at the head of the list at 7%. And according to a study by the Jean-Jaurès Foundation, only a third of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s voters in 2022 plan to vote for LFI in the European elections.