“There were delegations from a whole bunch of countries except France. There was no blue, white or red flag at Ben Gurion airport. » This is the observation made by Olivier Baudoin, French photographer, this Sunday, September 15 at Tel Aviv airport, when boarding a Belgian plane to return to France.
The man, originally from Nice, arrived with his partner and three other French friends in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, to participate in a photo marathon, scheduled for October 6, with a local NGO and the Alliance Française association. The next day, they were awakened by the first Hamas bombings and quickly learned that their return EasyJet flight, scheduled for October 10, was canceled. They then spoke by telephone with the French consulate, in vain. “We had no particular information, except that there was nothing. »
Assistance to the French, “it’s the sidereal void”
At the same time, his wife Cécile, of Belgian nationality, communicates with his embassy there. On their advice, the couple managed to travel to Tel Aviv in the hope of catching a flight to France. They deplore the difference in communication and resources put in place between the two consulates. “The Belgians were protective, supportive and gave us precise advice. The French state is not only not inclusive, but it does absolutely nothing,” regrets the photographer.
Neither the couple nor their French friends will be able to get a place on the first flights chartered by France, scheduled for Thursday October 12. Olivier and Cécile Baudoin finally managed to leave Israel on Sunday October 15 in a Belgian military plane which brought them back to Brussels the same day. For the photographer, the organization of assistance to the French on site is unspeakable: “I don’t know how to describe the void, except that it is the sidereal void.”
Watch the entire interview with Olivier Baudoin in the video at the top of this article.