2023-10-20 01:48:14
Questioned by young people, Emmanuel Macron spoke this Thursday on the conflict between Israel and Hamas during an impromptu exchange on the banks of the Seine in Paris.
Questioned by these young people about the ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations in France, the head of state justified this decision by the need to observe “a period of decency”.
“I think there was a period of decency, there had been a terrorist attack, it was not good,” he explained during this exchange captured by Brut’s cameras.
“During these demonstrations in Europe, 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.
RAW DOCUMENT — Arrested in the street, Emmanuel Macron explains to young people why he banned demonstrations in support of Palestine. pic.twitter.com/HkU2TBsco4
— Brut FR (@brutofficiel) October 19, 2023
After discussing with these young people, the exchange continued with an AFP journalist: “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), he recalled.
Asked to say whether he intended to go to Israel, the head of state reaffirmed that he would do so “when it is useful”. “If I go to the region, it is to try to provide a useful solution,” he assured.
“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 person.
“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,” noted the President of the Republic.
“Sometimes raise untruths”
He noted, at the end of his exchange with young people, that there were “a lot of representations”, “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. Since the Hamas attack on October 7, France has affirmed that Israel has the right to defend itself within the limits of international law.
He refused to comment on responsibility for Tuesday’s explosion in a Gaza hospital, 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 have not attributed it because we do not 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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