The leader of the socialist parliamentary group La France Insoumise, Mathilde Panot, was summoned by the French police as part of an investigation for statements made by her political party on October 7 about the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.
Mathilde Panot released a statement this Tuesday on her social media accounts. It seems that the investigation is focused on a statement made by the leftist party shortly after learning about the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7. The French socialist politician claimed authorities are investigating the party's alleged crime of defending terrorism.
🔴 COMMUNIQUÉ DU GROUPE PARLEMENTAIRE @FiAssemblee
Israël-Palestine : pour une paix juste et durable, stop à l'escalade !
L'offensive armée de forces palestiniennes menée par le Hamas intervient dans un contexte d'intensification de la politique d'occupation israélienne à… pic.twitter.com/051jHTxbSm
— Mathilde Panot (@MathildePanot) October 7, 2023
In that statement, the political party and several of its members described the terrorist attack as an "armed offensive by Palestinian forces" and justified it as a response to an "Israeli occupation policy in Gaza." Days later, in several speeches, Mathilde Panot caused controversy when she refused to categorize Hamas as a terrorist group. Instead, she defined the group as an "armed wing." To date, Panot has not retracted these statements.
Ambiguity and closeness to Hamas
Refusing to condemn the October 7 terrorist attack, and even justifications, are common among European left-wing parties. Many of these political groups hold positions that resemble that of the Congressional Squad.
In Spain, messages colluding with the Hamas agenda even reached the government. Spanish Minister Sira Riego posted a message on October 7 claiming that "Palestine has the right to resist after decades of occupation, apartheid and exile," while the world watched footage of the attacks in the southern kibbutz and the Nova music festival.
#Palestina tiene derecho a resistir tras décadas de ocupación, apartheid y exilio.
Frente a quienes hoy defienden volver al castigo colectivo bombardeando la Franja de Gaza, es urgente defender el derecho internacional.
La única solución es el fin de la ocupación. pic.twitter.com/hI2kLNiKvl— Sira Rego 🔻 (@sirarego) October 7, 2023
Since October 7, 385 cases have been referred to the French National Prosecutor's Office for comments that seem to be defending terrorism. To date, six cases have been dismissed, 76 have been referred to other prosecutors' offices and four have already resulted in convictions, such as the case of an influencer who was convicted for mocking the death of an Israeli baby.
