Israel cancelled visas for 27 French left-wing lawmakers and officials days before their planned Sunday visit to Israel and Palestinian territories, the group said. The move comes days after Israel barred two UK Labour MPs from entering the country and amid tensions after Macron said France would soon recognise a Palestinian state, pressuring Netanyahu over Gaza conditions.
The delegation included National Assembly deputies Francois Ruffin, Alexis Corbière and Julie Ozenne from the Ecologist party, Communist deputy Soumya Bourouaha and Communist senator Marianne Margate.
The other members were left-wing town mayors and local lawmakers.
The statement denounced the ban as a “major rupture in diplomatic ties”.
Why the aggressiveness, you asked about where they stood politically when it comes to the Palestinian genocide, and I gave you links to public statements so that you could form your own opinion on their leftist-ness.
The article reads:
You can look up their names and voting patterns here: https://www.nosdeputes.fr/ and here: https://www.senat.fr/scrutin-public/scr2024.html
17 of the 27 wrote a statement to AFP, calling for Macron to react, medias are reporting it as is (quoted below), there’s no conspiracy from nor against the other 10, they probably just did not make a statement yet or don’t feel like they have a big enough reach to warrant being included. The main point is that they are all being collectively punished from being associated with left-wing parties, by Israel who cancelled their visas. Meanwhile Israel invited the french fascists to a conference on antismitism.
“Invited by the French Consulate in Jerusalem, our missions for 35 years have helped strengthen international cooperation and the culture of peace. For the first time, two days before our departure, the Israeli authorities revoked our entry visas, even though they had been approved a month earlier,” wrote 17 of these 27 elected officials in a statement.
“We want to understand what led to this sudden decision, which resembles collective punishment. (…) This revocation of our authorizations to enter Israel 48 hours before our departure represents a major rupture in diplomatic ties with the French State and our mandates as elected officials of the Republic, which requires an unequivocal position from the highest authorities of our State,” they continued.
“For decades, we have been calling for and demanding that France recognize the Palestinian state. France is finally preparing to take the step of this recognition. It is a courageous act, which would pay tribute to its history and our vision of democracy, liberty, equality, and fraternity,” these elected officials added.
“Deliberately preventing elected officials and parliamentarians from traveling cannot be without consequences. We demand that this situation be clarified, that our delegation be received by the President of the Republic, and that he do everything possible with the Israeli authorities to authorize us to travel again as soon as possible,” they concluded.
This delegation will hold a press conference in Paris on Tuesday.
If you want more details you can try and subscribe to the AFP https://www.afp.com/en/our-offer/afp-news