2023-12-08 11:43:11
Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée, in Paris, December 7, 2023. MICHEL EULER / AP
A ” error “, in the opinion of the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF). The Hanukkah ceremony at the Elysée, Thursday evening, December 7, on the first day of this religious festival celebrated by the Jewish community, in the presence of the Chief Rabbi, Haïm Korsia, and the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, arouses an outcry in the political world. Two days before the 118th anniversary of the law of 1905, establishing the separation of Churches and State, the scene filmed and shared on the social network X by Rabbi Mendel Samama, where we see Haïm Korsia lighting the first candle within the presidential palace, is criticized in the name of the principle of secularism, dear to the Republic.
“This is not the place, within the Elysée, to light a Hanukkah candle, because the Republican DNA is to stay away from anything religious”reacted the president of CRIF, Yonathan Arfi, Friday morning at the microphone of Sud Radio. ” I was surprised. I wonder why Macron did it, it’s not his role”as President of the Republic, continued Mr. Arfi, present Thursday evening during the ceremony.
“As nice as it is, Hanukkah is a religious holiday. In which no elected official of the Republic should participate, like any religious manifestation”estimated on X the national secretary for secularism of the Socialist Party (PS), Jérôme Guedj. “Hanukkah at the Elysée! Soon Easter, Eid? »joked about X the deputy La France insoumise (LFI) of the Somme François Ruffin. “Macron president, he’s a 10-year-old kid with a little chemist’s kit, but real nitroglycerin and real matches”, sharply criticized PS senator from Val-de-Marne Laurence Rossignol, vice-president of the Senate. An allusion to the risk of conflagration in the country in the context of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Read also: Celebration of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at the Elysée: the CRIF considers that it was “an error”, the opposition denounces a departure from secularism
“How can we refuse to participate in a civic march against anti-Semitism on the incongruous and fallacious grounds of safeguarding national unity, and celebrate a religious festival within the presidential palace? To my knowledge, this is a first. Against secularism », took offense to the Les Républicains (LR) mayor of Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes), David Lisnard. On the far right, the National Rally (RN) deputy for Yonne Julien Odoul does not hesitate to castigate a “president who will never have understood France”.
“Signal” of “support”
The Elysée explained on Friday morning that the event was, above all, dedicated to an award ceremony which has existed since 2011, the Lord Jacobovits Prize, in the fight against anti-Semitism and the defense of the freedom to practice religion. Jewish religion. “It is not a religious celebration… but a cultural event linked to a religion. A historical event recorded in the calendar of this religion”we justify at the palace.
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