The leader of La France insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon called on Friday to “put Palestinian flags wherever possible”in reaction to a circular from Minister Patrick Hetzel on the “maintaining order” in universities on the eve of October 7, the anniversary of the Hamas attack in Israel.
The Minister of Higher Education justified this warning by a series of pro-Palestinian demonstrations this week in Paris in front of Sciences Po and the Institute of Oriental Languages, actions which according to him go “against the principles of neutrality and secularism”.
“It’s an abuse of power”said Mr. Mélenchon during a political meeting in the capital. The minister “says that as the university is secular, we should not talk about Gaza”more “talking about geopolitics is not an attack on secularism”he developed.
The entrance to Sciences Po Paris during an occupation of the premises by pro-Palestinian students, April 26, 2024 in Paris / Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP/Archives
“I ask young students to rebel, not to accept this ban”continued the rebellious patriarch, objecting that “at the university, we are talking about adult citizens who are adults (…) so they say what they want, because we are in a free country”.
“So I recommend that from the 8th (October) we put Palestinian flags wherever we can, so that this person does not have the last word”he added.
A few minutes later, Mr. Mélenchon also suggested that“a flag that we could put with that of the Palestinians is that of Lebanon”where the Israeli army’s bombings against Hezbollah have left more than a thousand dead over the past ten days.
“The Lebanese army has no means of combat and does not have the possibility of protecting its own borders”he lamented, judging that “It’s total hypocrisy to say that Hezbollah poses a problem”.
“Hezbollah is a component of the Lebanese people and it is not up to us to decide who is a good component and who is a bad one”he insisted, stressing that “the Lebanese people have the right to sovereignty over their territory”.
Before encouraging his troops again: “Put up Lebanese flags, so that the Lebanese know that we have not forgotten them, that we are not abandoning them to the murder (and) the violence of the terrifying neighbor that they have the misfortune to have at their side . »