Sunday evening, Raquel Garrido, LFI deputy, who was critical of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, was sanctioned by the party’s political office. She is sanctioned and will no longer be able to be a speaker for the LFI parliamentary group for four months. “I am appalled by this sanction: we do not resolve political differences with bureaucratic sanctions“, says MP Clémentine Autain.
“I am also devastated because four months is also the sanction that was given against Adrien Quatennens who was convicted of domestic violence“, she notes: “It is sad“, she said, adding the situations of Danielle Obono who made comments about Hamas not consistent with the group’s position, or the investigations into Sophia Chikirou, which according to her deserved to be heard.
Responding to a listener who claims to be on the left but hopes for a motion to exclude Jean-Luc Mélenchon, she says “not to be to exclude“.”I think it’s a mistake to focus on him. For a year at Nupes, there has undoubtedly been a management crisis, we have the impression that we are not at the level of the promise“, she says : “Management must come together quickly, together, and find ways of operating that bring pluralism to life.“. And, she assures: “The race for power for 2027 is not a lonely race“.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: “We are all for the recognition of two States” at LFI
A month ago today, Hamas attacked Israel. What can we remember from this past month? “The first image is the terrorist acts perpetrated by Hamas, which changed its strategy, which until now had carried out suicide attacks, rocket attacks, and there we had these images of burned children, destroyed kibbutzim.” replies Clémentine Autain, on the one hand, “and Israel’s response was to launch into blind revenge which is also terrifying: the Gazans live under bombs, in a distressing situation, where there is no more water, no electricity, and children dying in spades“. According to her, “what has struck me over the past 30 days is all these children who are dying“.
Returning to the reactions of her own party, LFI, she concedes: “That the first LFI press release was not correct is obvious; that we have a disagreement on the term terrorist: I think that Hamas is a terrorist organization whose political project is the destruction of the State of Israel, in reality, within the Nupes, we have a lot heard a tear on these questions“, but “the truth is that we are all for an immediate ceasefire, for the release of the hostages, for the end of the blockade, for the cessation of hostilities and for the recognition of two States“.
“We must never lower our vigilance against anti-Semitism”
However, according to her, talking about “unconditional support” for Israel is “not understanding that there will be no peace for Israelis and Palestinians until we are able to recognize the Palestinians’ right to have a state“, says Clémentine Autain. “This is the condition for peace and security for the two peoples“, she said, adding to be marked by “France’s position“, which makes him “shame” about this question : “For a month, it has not been crystal clear, and France would be honored to give a clear, strong speech, it must make its voice heard, and this voice must be that of peace, not unconditional support in Netanyahu’s government“.
On the resurgence of anti-Semitism in France, she calls for “never lower your vigilance to fight anti-Semitism“she said, citing a study that shows anti-Semitic stereotypes continue to haunt the country.”We, on the left, have the responsibility not to put this question aside“, she assures, recalling the far-right origins of this ideology. She says she thinks that the idea of demonstrating against anti-Semitic acts, put forward by Olivier Faure (PS), is “a fair idea“, but “never with the far right, there is a trivialization of this history from which the RN comes (…) We are in the process of reversing the values: the fight against all racism, against anti-Semitism, we have to wear it“.