2023-10-19 20:23:52
The conflict in the Middle East can be “an element of division” In France “if we manage this situation badly”declared this Thursday, October 19, Emmanuel Macron to an AFP journalist on the sidelines of an impromptu exchange with young people in Paris.
Asked if he intended to visit Israel, the head of state reaffirmed that he would do so “when it’s useful”. “If I go to the region, it is to try to provide a useful solution”he said on the banks of the Seine.
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“We are all French, we must not import this conflict”said Emmanuel Macron, who attended the morning in Arras, in Pas-de-Calais, at the funeral of Dominique Bernard, the teacher killed last week by a radicalized young man.
Israel-Gaza, Arras: in France, national unity put to the test
After discussing with young people the conflict, which has escalated since the unprecedented attack on October 7 carried out by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against Israel, he told AFP: “We are a country, if we manage this situation badly, it could be an element of division, that’s what I said the other day to the French”in his call for unity during a speech. “We have the largest Jewish community […] in Europe, we have a lot of young people who are of origin from the Middle East, the Maghreb or Africa. We also have a lot of young people who are of Muslim faith”he noted.
‘No clean information’ on Gaza hospital explosion
He noted, at the end of his exchange with young people, that there was “lots of performances”, “an emotional part too”. “There is also a sensitivity that can go with their origins, with their family environment. » “We must explain France’s position, we must also sometimes raise untruths, tell each other things”insisted the President of the Republic.
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He refused to comment on responsibility for Tuesday’s explosion in a hospital in Gaza, attributed by Hamas to Israel but attributed by Israeli and American authorities to a Palestinian rocket from the Islamic Jihad movement. “I am very careful”, “I didn’t attribute it because we don’t have our own information”he said. “The day the French services consolidate, with partner services, secure information, there will be an attribution or elements at that time”he added.
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Since October 7, France has affirmed that Israel has the right to defend itself within the limits of international law.
A “decency period” for pro-Palestinian demonstrations
Asked about the ban on propalestian demonstrations in France, Emmanuel Macron justified it by the need for a “decency period” after the massacres of Israelis by Hamas and the risk of infiltration by “ultraradical elements”.
“We are afraid”: after the Hamas attack on Israel, the concern of the Jewish community in France
“I think there was a period of decency, there had been a terrorist attack, it was not good”he said during an exchange with students in the street in Paris, attended by an AFP journalist. “I see people who want to demonstrate peacefully but there are hyper radical elements who are going to burn the flags of Israel, defend Hamas”he added.
On Wednesday, the Council of State reminded the government that pro-Palestinian demonstrations could not be systematically banned and that it was up to the prefects alone to assess ” case by case “ if there was a risk of public order disturbance.
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