2023-11-04 07:00:10
Emmanuel Macron visiting Plougastel-Daoulas (Finistère), after the passage of storm Ciaran, November 3, 2023. POOL / VIA REUTERS
A president in turmoil. Having just returned from Uzbekistan, Friday November 3, Emmanuel Macron went to Finistère, hard hit by storm Ciaran, particularly on the transport and electricity networks. “We have a fight, which is to restore normal life as quickly as possible”he declared in Plougastel-Daoulas, promising a state of natural disaster “wherever we can do it”. While two people lost their lives in France, he also praised the relief organization, which “helped save many lives”.
Read also: Storm Ciaran: Emmanuel Macron, in Brittany, promises a state of natural disaster and agricultural calamity
Emmanuel Macron took advantage of the microphones held during this trip to announce the holding of a “humanitarian conference” on November 9, as part of the Paris Peace Forum. The countries of the European Union will be invited, but also those of the Middle East, the G20, several UN agencies and large NGOs. “The idea is to go around to the big donors and accelerate aid to Gaza”, affirms the Quai d’Orsay. The Elysée specifies that it will be a meeting “ operational » with the main donors.
In a country where many Muslims and the largest Jewish community in Europe coexist, the October 7 massacres committed by Hamas in Israel and the response of the Jewish state have awakened fears of dramatic repercussions. “For several years now, the French have considered, much more than before, that international affairs concern them, observes Frédéric Dabi, general director of the IFOP. But since the Hamas attack, the level of concern has been spectacular: 82% fear the repercussions in France of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. » The assassination of literature professor Dominique Bernard, on October 13 in Arras, by a young jihadist, could have been “the match on a powder keg”notes the pollster.
“It’s not Churchill”
Cautious at this moment “apocalyptic”, according to the words of one of his former advisors, Emmanuel Macron stuck to the imposed figures. First, on October 12, a televised address to ask the French not to divide. Secondly, a visit to Israel, then to Jordan and Egypt, less to have diplomatic influence in the region than to send an internal message: to show that he is taking care of the French hostages and that he is strives to avoid the massacre of civilian populations in the Gaza Strip.
Read also: Live, Israel-Hamas war: according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, strikes against a medical convoy left 15 dead and 60 injured, IDF claims that one of the ambulances was used “by a terrorist cell”
“It’s not Churchill, observes former socialist deputy Gilles Savary, but taking a very clear position in favor of Israel would have risked igniting the powder on the Muslim side. Between the risk of internal chaos and that of the Third World War, Macron walks on the edges. » Having angered, a month after the start of the conflict, neither the Muslim community nor the Jewish community is considered a small victory in Emmanuel Macron’s political entourage, despite the worrying increase in anti-Semitic acts.
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