Posted on 11/09/24
| News Source: JPost
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has reported France Insoumise MP Marie Mesmeur to the Paris Prosecutor after she made a post on X/Twitter condoning Thursday's violent attacks on Israelis in Amsterdam.
In the original post, made on 8 November, Mesmeur wrote, "These people here were not lynched because they were Jewish, but instead because they were racist and supported a genocide."
This came after multiple Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were beaten, thrown into canals, chased with knives, and targeted by attackers in vehicles on Thursday night.
Mesmeur's comments caused outrage among politicians and Jewish groups, with The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA) accusing Mesmeur of justifying "pogromist violence."
Mesmeur, who is deputy of the French National Assembly, subsequently took to social media to post a statement condemning the "vile campaign of harassment and insults from far-right networks" she claimed to have been subjected to as a result of the post.
However, France's left-wing also condemned Mesmeur's words. Socialist president of the Occitan region, Carole Delga, said, "Each of your words damages the [French] Republic a little more. This endorsement of violence and antisemitism is destructive."
Similar sentiments were echoed by Senator Laurence Rossignol, who said, "When we confuse terrorism and resistance, mass rapes and heroism, it's no wonder we end up justifying lynching!"
Loïg Chesnais-Girard, the President of Bretagne, said, "To justify a lynching is to endorse the methods of those you claim to be fighting. Against racism and antisemitism, the Republic must never respond with violence!"
Later on Saturday evening, Minister Retailleau said he had reported the comments to the Paris Prosecutor, under Article 40 of the Criminal Code, on account of Mesmeur condoning a crime.