TRUE OR FALSE. Is it true that three rebellious MEPs refused to condemn Hamas?

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According to several elected officials, the only French MEPs who did not vote for the European Parliament resolution to condemn Hamas after the October 7 attack on Israel are members of France Insoumise. This is true but it deserves explanation.

The president of the Renaissance party in Seine-Saint-Denis, Shannon Seban, asks a riddle: “Three French MEPs voted against the resolution to condemn Hamas [après son attaque terroriste contre Israël le 7 octobre] . What political party do they belong to?”writes Shannon Seban Monday October 23 on X. Answer: “Rebellious France, of course!”

The next day, Sébastien Chenu, the vice-president of the National Rally, also denounced X what he calls “the LFI ignominy of the day” before estimating that, “every day they sink more”. A vote which fuels the numerous criticisms of La France insoumise coming from other political parties and even its left-wing allies.

Three LFI MEPs opposed the European resolution

And in fact, the only three French MEPs who voted against the European Parliament resolution condemning Hamas on Thursday October 19 are members of France Insoumise. They are Manon Aubry, Marina Mesure and Younous Omarjee. They are the only French among the 21 elected officials who opposed the text. Conversely, 500 MEPs voted for this resolution which was largely adopted.

On the other hand, what the accusers do not say is that two other European deputies elected on the LFI list voted in favor of the text, namely Anne-Sophie Pelletier and Emmanuel Maurel. The sixth MEP elected on the LFI list, Leïla Chaibi, did not take part in the vote.

Manon Aubry has already explained her decision on X. “We refuse to support a resolution which effectively gives a blank check to the continuation of Israeli bombings”, she justifies. She had defended an amendment for the European Parliament to demand a “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, but this amendment was rejected by the other elected officials. Instead, the European Parliament preferred to call “a humanitarian pause, a de-escalation and full respect for international humanitarian law” (paragraph 11 of the resolution). Insufficient in the eyes of the rebellious.

Validation of the paragraph condemning Hamas

However, does this mean that these three elected officials refused to condemn Hamas in absolute terms? Yes and no.

You should know that, when examining a proposed resolution, European elected officials are first called upon to express their opinion on each paragraph of the text independently, before having to vote for or against the entire text.

During the debates, these three rebellious MEPs had validated the first paragraph which “condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks and despicable murders committed by Hamas against Israel and its people and expresses its support for the State of Israel and its people [et] reaffirms that the terrorist organization Hamas must be eliminated”. The voting records attest to this (page 12). This is what allows Manon Aubry to hammer home X and Tuesday October 24 on Sud Radio that she voted for the condemnation of Hamas.

But it is true that at the end of the debates, these three elected officials opposed the resolution as a whole, even though it contained this condemnation. They are therefore not officially part of the list of MEPs who condemned Hamas on October 19 (page 194).

Only the European left is divided on the question

The division of elected officials from the LFI list during the vote on this resolution is a new example of the broader rupture of the left since the Hamas attack, to the point that the socialists decided to suspend their actions within Nupes. In the European Parliament, all groups voted for this resolution unanimously, whether the center, the right, the far right and even the social democrats (the so-called classic left in France with the socialists ). The only ones who are divided on the issue are the European left (rather classified as the extreme left in France) and the European Greens.

This break between the classic left and the far left materialized in a lively exchange between the socialist MEP Raphaël Glucksmann and the founder of France insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the social network X. The first voted for the resolution for, he said, “condemn in the strongest terms the Hamas terrorists and the massacres of October 7, 2023 and demand respect for international law, the lifting of the siege of Gaza or aid to Palestinian civilians,” he said.he explained on Xeven if, in his eyes too, “this resolution is not perfect and can be criticized”.

Almost immediate response from Jean-Luc Mélenchon : “So refusing to request a ceasefire, refusing the humanitarian corridor, refusing the lifting of the blockade, this is what Glucksmann’s PS calls a clear condemnation of the crimes.”

Raphaël Glucksmann replied for his part that he had indeed voted for Manon Aubry’s amendment requesting a ceasefire and that it was therefore not his fault if it had not been retained.


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