2023-12-08 10:15:21
The controversy has continued to swell for several hours. A video shared on social networks by Mendel Samama, a rabbi from Strasbourg, shows Haïm Korsia lighting the first candle of the traditional Jewish festival of Hanouka this Thursday evening in the village hall of the Élysée, under the gaze of Emmanuel Macron .
Songs in Hebrew accompany the scene. “Secularism is not the negation of religions. We must ensure that all religions can coexist,” responded Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin on franceinfo, when questioned about this scene targeted by the opposition.
“I have always thought that religions can express their conviction as long as it does not interfere with that of others and as long as it does not transform into political ideology,” added Gérald Darmanin. According to him, Emmanuel Macron remains “a defender of religions”. “I find it completely normal that he places himself alongside his Jewish compatriots,” said the Minister of the Interior.
This scene took place on the occasion of the ceremony of the European Conference of Rabbis (CER), in the presence of the Chief Rabbi of France Haïm Korsia. The head of state was presented with the annual CER prize, which aims to reward the fight against anti-Semitism and the safeguarding of religious freedoms.
“We do not compromise with secularism”
Since then, reactions from all political sides have multiplied. Non-compliance with the principle of secularism is being singled out, two days before the 118th anniversary of the law of separation of Churches and State of 1905. “We cannot compromise with secularism. This common is precious but fragile,” the president of the region quickly reacted on X (ex-Twitter). Occitanie Carole Delga.
“No elected representative of the Republic should participate, like any religious demonstration,” said the national secretary for secularism of the Socialist Party Jérôme Guedj earlier.
1) 2 days before December 9, the anniversary of the 1905 law, I am going to put my foot down. As nice as it is, Hanukkah is a religious holiday. In which no elected official of the Republic should participate, like any religious demonstration. https://t.co/IaUgZSZp5i
— Jérôme Guedj (@JeromeGuedj) December 7, 2023
For the PS senator from Val-de-Marne and vice-president of the upper house Laurence Rossignol“Macron president, he’s a 10-year-old kid with a little chemist’s kit, but real nitroglycerin and real matches.”
“Tonight, the Élysée Palace has become a place of worship. And Sunday morning, the Latin mass? », also protested on the LFI deputy from the North Adrien Quatennens. “An unforgivable political mistake,” criticized the coordinator of the movement and deputy Manuel Bompard. For Alexis Corbière, LFI deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis, this is a “secularism with variable geometry” and a “dangerous spiral”.
On Saturday, we will celebrate the anniversary of the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State.
This evening, #Macron the crowd by organizing a religious ceremony at the Elysée.
An unforgivable political mistake. https://t.co/gTXAmkJqb2
— Manuel Bompard (@mbompard) December 8, 2023
“By this act, Emmanuel Macron breaks with his role as guarantor of the neutrality of the State. I strongly condemn this attempt at religious preference,” also tackled Pierre HenrietRenaissance deputy for Vendée.
On the set of BFMTV, RN deputy Laurent Jacobelli, said for his part he understood that this scene “could be surprising”. “By not participating in the march against anti-Semitism, Emmanuel Macron sent a troubled sign to our compatriots of Jewish faith (…) Perhaps he wants to counteract this image that he was able to give to our Jewish compatriots” , he estimated. “Macron despised our Jewish compatriots and at the same time our secularism. This president will therefore never have understood France,” added RN spokesperson Julien Odoul on X.
By lighting a candle for the religious festival of #Hanukkah at the Elysée to make people forget his pitiful absence at the march against anti-Semitism, #Macron despised our Jewish compatriots and at the same time our secularism. This president will therefore never have understood France. pic.twitter.com/AoFBJsrvA5
— Julien ODOUL (@JulienOdoul) December 8, 2023
Faced with the war situation in the Middle East, Gérald Darmanin called for “extreme vigilance” from the police prefects for this Jewish festival of Hanouka. “The very high level of the terrorist threat which continues to weigh on our country, as well as the persistence of tensions at the international level, in particular in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, require the maintenance of extreme vigilance,” wrote the minister of the Interior.
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