French intellectuals demand explanations from Macron for his complicity with Islamic terrorism

A group of 30 French intellectuals published an open letter addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron in order to express their indignation at his anti-Israeli stance and to ask him for explanations for his reluctance to condemn Islamic terrorism, especially Hezbollah, and his dubious business dealings in Lebanon.

In the letter, titled "Mr. President, Explain to Us" and published in the French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, the intellectuals asked the president to explain "why France has done nothing for 18 years to help UNIFIL (the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon) to implement [U.N. Security Council] resolution 1701 in order to help the Lebanese army disarm the Islamist militias and push them back north of the Litani River."

It should be noted that UNIFIL has never implemented Resolution 1701, which calls for the withdrawal of Hezbollah north of the Litani River and for its disarmament that other terrorist groups in order to prevent attacks perpetrated from southern Lebanon on Israel. Due to the lack of effectiveness of U.N. peacekeepers, or even their cooperation with Hezbollah in exchange for bribes, Israeli troops have been forced to carry out a land incursion into Lebanese territory since early October.

The French intellectuals also asked Macron to explain "why Israel should be the only ally that has no right to defend itself and should adopt a ceasefire when it is the target of terrorists who want to destroy it, in Gaza and Lebanon."

They also asked him to explain why there was no ceasefire during the attacks against the terrorist group ISIS in Mosul, Iraq, where more than 10,000 men, women and children were killed.

In addition, the intellectuals compared Israel's anti-terror operations to the actions of police officers against radical Islamists who murdered innocent people in France. "Explain to us why we didn't stop shooting at the Kouachi brothers (perpetrators of the attack on the satirical magazine 'Charlie Hebdo' in 2015), Amedy Coulibaly (a terrorist who murdered four members of the Jewish community in a hostage situation nine years ago) or Mohammed Merah (an Islamist who killed seven people after shooting French servicemen and Jewish children in 2012)," the intellectuals expressed.

"Explain to us why you seem to forget that the West, France and Israel have the same enemy: radical Islamism embodied by Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah?" they added.

Macron's moral paradox

The signatories also asked him to explain why he often incurs a contradiction when it comes to the conflict between the Israelis and their enemies. "Can you explain why you claim that Israel is a 'friendly country' and yet refuse to help it, as our American and German allies do, by boycotting arms deliveries and the participation of Israeli arms companies in the Eurosatory and Euronaval trade fairs?" they asked.

"Can you explain to us why your call for an international coalition against terrorism turned a year later into a coalition against Israel?" they stressed.

The intellectuals also suggested that Macron is extremely lukewarm, or perhaps complicit, in the face of Islamic terrorism. "Explain to us why you find it so hard to pronounce the word 'Hezbollah' when referring to the Drakkar terrorist massacre in which 58 French paratroopers were killed," they demanded, referring to the 1983 attack on barracks in Beirut.

"Explain to us why you have never congratulated Israel for the elimination of Nasrallah," in reference to Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader killed by the Jewish state at the end of September this year.

"Explain to us your timidity in openly condemning Hezbollah, which is the armed wing of Iran and the arms supplier to Russia against Ukraine," the intellectuals stated. They added: "This terrorist and political illegitimate movement has been holding the Lebanese people hostage for too long."

The signatories also asked the French president to explain why he has never expressed his support for the operation (attributed to Israel) that resulted in the explosion of pagers and walkie talkies belonging to a significant number of Hezbollah terrorists, killing dozens and wounding thousands of them last September.

In this regard, they also asked him to explain why he only takes it upon himself to denounce civilian casualties in Lebanon without mentioning the eliminated terrorists, "thus equating the population with their captors."

Macron's dubious business dealings in Lebanon

The intellectuals also expressed doubts regarding the legitimacy of Macron's business dealings in Lebanon. "Explain to us the exact role you played in obtaining the contract to rebuild the port of Beirut" after the August 2020 explosions of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that killed 217 people, injured 7,000 and caused the displacement of 300,000.

"Explain to us the financial or diplomatic counterparts of this contract, which would commit the French nation," they added.

"Can you explain to us how you can negotiate with Hezbollah, an international drug trafficker responsible for 20% of the world's cocaine production?" asked the intellectuals, who also pointed against the lukewarm treatment given to these types of terrorist organizations.

Macron's obsession with Israel

"Can you explain to us why you seem obsessed with [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu, whom you treat with less consideration than the terrorist leaders he strives to eliminate to ensure the security of the Western world in the face of the Islamist threat?"

The intellectuals highlighted more of Macron's moral paradoxes, asking him to explain "why you announced in 2017 that you wanted to put an end to the agreements favoring Qatar in France and that you would welcome Emir [Tamim] Al Thaniat in an official reception in February 2024 to deepen the strategic and financial partnership between the two countries, knowing that [the Qatari leader] meets with Hamas leaders in Doha?"

"Can you explain why you seem to be using every means at your disposal to be the first head of state to try to push Netanyahu back? Do you want to make up for Putin's affront, when you were sent to the end of his cold marble table like a bad student being sent in the corner?" the intellectuals said, referring to the meeting held by Macron with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia in 2022, where they were separated by a table about six meters long, allegedly because the French leader refused to undergo a COVID-19 test.

"Can you explain to us why there is such a feeling of mistrust towards a nation that has suffered the worst genocidal massacre of the 21st century and still has a hundred hostages, thousands of wounded and more than 80,000 displaced people in its own country, all of which you seem to ignore?" they expressed.

The intellectuals also took aim at the president for his condemnation of Israel after UNIFIL criticized Israeli forces for firing shots at some of their positions in southern Lebanon. "Explain to us how you can accuse Israel of 'sowing barbarism' when the country is under attack by terrorists on seven fronts in a war that has been imposed upon it," they said.

"Many French people who elected you now feel betrayed and need to hear your answers before they can't even look at you anymore," they concluded.