France’s Palestine movement has moved up a gear as Rima Hassan, MEP, returns from imprisonment in Israel after the illegal seizure of the Madleen, reports John Mullen

On Saturday 14 June, mass demonstrations were called in Paris and around the country by all five major national union confederations, from the radical Solidaires to the far less combative CFDT. This follows a week of impressive solidarity action.

The Freedom Flotilla Twelve included a Euro MP, Rima Hassan, from the radical-left formation La France Insoumise (France in Revolt). Illegally kidnapped by Israeli soldiers in the middle of the night, in international waters, along with the other eleven, she was imprisoned in Israel last Monday.

Fifteen years ago, when another solidarity boat was attacked by Israel, the Zionist state preferred to execute in cold blood several of the unarmed activists. This time, they found themselves in a prison cell. Rima’s captors tried to pressurise her to sign a document recognising that she had entered Israel illegally (‘I’ll smash your head against the wall if you don’t sign this. We’ll deal with this in our way,’ she was told). She refused, along with most of her comrades. When she wrote ‘Free Palestine’ on her cell wall, she was shackled hand and foot and put in solitary confinement, where she began a hunger strike. Israeli authorities abandoned the idea of putting her in front of an Israeli court, and placed her on a flight home, during which far-right Israeli passengers threatened her.

On Monday 9 June, while we still didn’t know if the kidnapped activists were safe, large demos were held across the country. These were the biggest demonstrations which had been called on the same day for several decades. Every evening since, thousands have gathered to protest in Paris and in other towns (in central Paris some demonstrators erected tents and camped for several days). And on Friday, the rally in Paris welcomed Rima Hassan home. In her speech, she insisted that ‘the next boat is ready to sail.’ Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La France Insoumise, declared that the flotilla was, a ‘success which did more in a few days than the governments of the world have done’ for Gaza. The same week, dockers in Marseille had refused to handle spare parts for the Israeli massacre machine.

Macron and his Prime Minister Bayrou had no objection, it seemed, to elected French representatives being snatched in international waters. Macron pleaded that the flotilla crew be allowed home, without a word of protest against the Israeli actions. Bayrou claimed that Rima and the others were just involved in a ‘publicity stunt’. At the time of writing, three of the kidnapped crew, including Yanis Mhamdi, a radical journalist, have not yet been freed. The French government is unconcerned, too busy applauding Israel’s bombing of Iran.

Reactions and attacks

Faced with mass support for Palestine, Macron has denounced one more time the famine imposed on Gaza, and declared France’s ‘determination’ to recognise a Palestinian state: but not just yet, and not without conditions! What he wants is a Palestinian Bantustan with a flag, but no army, and a government chosen by Western imperialism in consultation with the genocide team in Tel Aviv.

Macron’s support for the genocide continues even as he denounces it. His government has just approved the presence of Israel at a major arms fair held outside Paris next week. Nine Israeli companies will sell their arms ‘tested in combat’ on the people of Gaza.

The mass media has tried to play down the freedom-flotilla story, as well as telling lies about it. The release of a French Euro MP from illegal detention by a French ally did not make the main national evening news, and the 24-hour news channels had the Israeli ambassador, the Israeli army spokesman and their buddies chatting about the Freedom Flotilla calling it a ‘pleasure cruise’. They haven’t invited MEP Rima Hassan on their shows.

Despite the stronger tradition of mass demonstration in France than in the UK, in France, the Palestine rallies have been smaller this past year than across the Channel, so this week’s mobilisation has been a much-needed boost. Having a largeish political formation (LFI has 71 MPs and nine MEPs) 100% committed to stopping the genocide is tremendously useful.

This movement around the flotilla has reinforced the position of La France Insoumise as the centre of gravity of radical politics in France. Other forces within the fragile electoral alliance which allowed the Left to have the largest group in parliament after last year’s elections, have reacted diversely. Olivier Faure of the Socialist Party denounced the illegal boarding of the Madleen. Leaders of the Communist Party and the Greens made similar declarations.

However, much of the Left, along with Macron, has been more interested in attacking La France Insoumise. Rima Hassan declared that Palestinian resistance was legitimate, and as a result two ministers asked if her French nationality could not be withdraw. And this week, at the Socialist Party’s biennial conference, one MP, Jérôme Guedj, called Jean-Luc Mélenchon an ‘anti-Semitic bastard’ to applause in the hall. The Socialist Party leadership has so far refused to dissociate themselves from these insults.

Widespread sectarianism has stopped most of the radical and revolutionary left from defending La France Insoumise from the huge smear campaign rolled out in recent months, identical to the one against Jeremy Corbyn a few years back. Every left activist should oppose it.

Rallies are planned next week against the arms fair in Le Bourget where Israel will be an honoured guest. This needs to be the beginning of a deepening of the movement. Israel must be stopped.

John Mullen is a revolutionary in the Paris region and a supporter of La France Insoumise