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The Middle East fell off their radar. Now comes the steady stream of leaders who’ve donned their penitent’s garb and flown in to show support and push for peace. The latest… Emmanuel Macron. The French president traveling to both Israel and the West Bank as the war with Gaza stokes bitter rivalries in his, the European nation that’s home to Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim populations.
We ask about Paris’ official policy going forward and the acrimony at home over the far-left’s refusal to brand Hamas a terror organization and over the government’s blanket ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, a ban that’s since been overturned by the courts. How toxic is it this time in France? The whole world feels a stake in the land that’s three times holy and the French are no exception. From the Crusaders and Napoleon to De Gaulle and Chirac, the Middle East plays a part in our own collective narrative. If this is a watershed moment for the Middle East, then which way is it headed?
He landed in Tel Aviv and before he’d left the airport, Emmanuel Macron opened his trip in the company of families of the victims of the October 7th attacks. 30 French citizens were killed on the day. Nine remain missing, possibly hostages. Macron made the rounds meeting with the president, the prime minister and leaders of the opposition. In Benjamin Netanyahu’s company, he talked tough on Hamas with an idea that drew everyone’s attention. The backlash was immediate: putting Hamas in the same bag as Isis would be tantamount to France ruling out a peaceful solution for Gaza and endorsing all-out war.
After Mark Rutte on Monday, Emmanuel Macron made the trip to Ramallah and sat down with Mahmoud Abbas, something Joe Biden couldn’t do the day after the Gaza hospital bombing. Middle East war sparking an ongoing war of words here in…
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Source : france24
