The executive is still considering the pantheonization of lawyer Gisèle Halimi. – Louise MERESSE / SIPA
Will feminist lawyer Gisèle Halimi finally make her entry into the Pantheon? The Elysée is still looking for the best answer to this visibly delicate question. “The reflection is in progress. It is a decision that requires that many stakeholders be consulted. With the actors, witnesses or custodians of all the fights in which Gisèle Halimi is engaged ”, commented Friday a source close to the executive.
Thursday, France Inter had affirmed that President Emmanuel Macron was probably going to give up this pantheonization, in particular because the commitment of the lawyer against the war in Algeria and for the independence of this country could “split” and that the decision could be considered as an “insult” by some associations of Pieds-Noirs and Harkis.
An “obstinate rebel”
The Minister in charge of Equality between women and men, Elisabeth Moreno, recalled for her part that she “campaigned” for the entry into the Pantheon of Gisèle Halimi, this “obstinate rebel (…) who marked the history of feminism and our country ”.
“I remain determined in this objective, even if I know that the pantheonization processes can be long and complex because they require dialogue and consensus”, commented Elisabeth Moreno.
Women and daughters of harkis against this pantheonization
In his report on the colonization and the Algerian war (1954-1962), submitted in January to Emmanuel Macron, the historian Benjamin Stora had recommended the pantheonization of Gisèle Halimi, who died last July at the age of 93. This national honor is also claimed by many feminist and left activists.
Conversely, a group of women and girls of harkis, auxiliaries to the French army during the Algerian war, said they were opposed to this possibility.
Left on the bridge
Since Thursday, several left-wing personalities, like the socialist senator Rachid Temal, have been moved on Twitter at the idea that the President of the Republic is renouncing the idea of a pantheonization.
“It is also her humanist positions on Algeria which legitimizes the entry of Gisèle Halimi in the Pantheon”, thus judged the LFI deputy and candidate for regional in Île-de-France Clémentine Autain. For Bastian Lachaud, also LFI deputy, a renunciation of Emmanuel Macron would be a “shame”. “By doing her job as a lawyer, and by denouncing torture”, Gisèle Halimi “precisely saved the honor of France”, he said.