🇫🇷Pantheonisations
Marc Bloch to be transferred to the Panthéon, La France Insoumise move to repeal crime of “glorifying terrorism”, and Gabriel Attal to lead Renaissance
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This week
🏛️Marc Bloch to be transferred to the Panthéon
🕵️♂️LFI move to repeal crime of “glorifying terrorism”
🤴Gabriel Attal to lead Renaissance
Weekly Poll
🏛️Marc Bloch to be transferred to the Panthéon
This Saturday saw the 80 year anniversary of the Liberation of Strasbourg, a military action that paved the way to not only the return of the city to French and Allied control, but paved the way for the Allied advance into Germany.
While the liberation of the city was fascinating episode in the wider liberation of France, this commemoration focused instead on something far more human: the internment of historian and resistance fighter, Marc Bloch, in the Panthéon, and the recognition of the “malgré nous”, the Alsatians and Mosellans who were forced into service in the Nazi army.
Bloch was a professor of medieval history at the University of Strasbourg who was known for having written “L’Etrange Défaite”, an essay on the Battle of France , and used his personal experiences as an Officer to understand the French defeat.
Written in 1940, the book was published in 1946, two years after he was arrested in Lyon, tortured and executed by the Gestapo for his active participation in the French Resistance.
With his historic relevance, his contribution to the French state, and with the courage that he showed throughout his far-too-short life, he was done justice by French President Emmanuel Macron who chose to honour him.
"For his work, his teaching and his courage, we have decided that Marc Bloch will enter the Pantheon,"
Announced in front of Daniel Bloch, the 98 year old son of the historian, as well as his 50 year-old great granddaughter, Hélène Seguret, Emmanuel Macron spoke of the man’s “scathing lucidity’ and “physical courage”.
If you want to learn more about the towering man, drop a comment below and let me know, because it would genuinely be a pleasure to write and speak about his life and to share that story with you all.
But, that’s not the only message that occurred this days with President Macron also paying homage to the 130,000 Alsatians and Mosellans who were forcible conscripted by the German army and forced into service, purely because Nazi Germany had annexed their region.
With what is happening in the world, and the war crimes or crimes against humanity that we are regularly hearing about, it’s important to remember the things that have happened in our past and how easily they can be repeated.
🕵️♂️LFI move to repeal crime of “glorifying terrorism”
So, back to the modern day: Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his far-left team at La France Insoumise are now creating another hubbub in the French political world.
This time, they have been targeted from across the boardfor attempting to repeat a 2014 law that punishes the glorification of terrorism.
Complaining this part the “Cazeneuve law” of 2014 unfairly instrumentalises the law against “freedom of expression”, Ugo Bernalicis (LFI) and his colleagues argue that the law of 1881 is sufficient for dealing apologia of the worst kind.
“What democracy can still keep its name, when the methods of anti-terrorism are used to repress political activists, community activists, journalists or trade unionists”
-Statement by La France Insoumise in the proposed law
At the source of this appears to be much of the judicial responses against several actors close to La France Insoumise, who have been investigated for “apology of terrorism” following remarks related to the ongoing Israel - Hamas war.
With the General Secretary of the CGT in the north being sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence for a comment in a leaflet supporting Palestinians, mentioning “The horrors of the illegal occupation have accumulated. Since Saturday [October 7, 2023], they have been receiving the responses they provoked,", as well as the cases of LFI MP Mathilde Panot and MEP Rima Hassan being investigated, there is a growing push to realign behind an argument over freedom of speech.
However, thye’ve found themselves isolated in this with the Macronist and Republican right responding aggressively in their distaste.
Gabriel Attal, the leader of Macronist party ‘Renaissance’, sent a letter to the socialists, ecologist, and communist colleagues pressing them to not engage in this and to dissociate themselves from the action of their far-left coalition partners.
“Will you be able to clearly dissociate yourself from this bill and thus defend our values, those of the Republic?"… [this bill is] an insult and an indelible stain on those who carry it … A fundamental limit has been crossed: that of the respect we owe to all the victims of terrorism,”
This message seems to have made some impact, with Olivier Faure criticising the initiative on Twitter, harpooning Jean-Luc Mélenchon:
“Sanchez is the socialist leader of the Spanish government. He is also the president of the international 🌹. He has done what LFI has not. He has avoided marginalising the defence of the Palestinians by not sinking into provocation and by refusing to consider anti-Semitism as ‘residual’. He calls for the recognition of a state 🇵🇸 and seeks to broaden the peace camp rather than divide its supporters. He is not seeking to exploit the tragedy for electoral gain.
I regret the German position, which is not my own, but at the same time I am not tabling a PPL that simply repeals the offence of apology for terrorism, the definition of which simply needs to be clarified to avoid abuses. It is imperative to protect civil liberties, but also to protect the French people from fanaticism and calls for violence and hatred.”
Of course, far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon doesn’t like it when people tell him he’s done something wrong, so he decided to play the victim and label the Parti Socialiste of all people as slaves of the far right:
“The repeal of the law on apology for terrorism has resulted in a new attack on LFI from the far right, slavishly taken up by the media and political officialdom. Rather than making up your mind, read the text of the proposed law.”
All is going well over at the Nouveau Front Populaire, then, but perhaps I dont have the gravitas to understand the grand strategies of Mr La République.
🤴Gabriel Attal to lead Renaissance
The final story of the week is the congress of Macronist party, Renaissance, where Gabriel Attal is expected to take over the party from former Secretary General, Stephane Séjourné.
With municipal elections that promise to be violent for everybody involved, as well as the need to construct a political machine that will drive Renaissance towards the 2027 Presidential elections, the former Prime Minister will have a herculean ask on his hands.
And this all starts this weekend, with the vote approving Attal’s 150 member list of the National Council being the first major sound-off, with the final number being expected to indicate the level of support that Renaissance has right now.
With En Marche! having 400,000 members in 2017, the numbers reported by Le Monde are dire for the party, with “less than 10,000” being up to date with their contributions. A dire situation for a party that will have been at the centre of French politics for a decade following the end of Macron’s second quinquennat.
However, he has far bigger issues on his hands, with the party being criticised for ideological feebleness, a drift towards the right, being too left-leaning, being too weak on security, and failing to support proportionality.
This will all have to be resolved at a sprint, with the municipal elections of 2026 being the deadline for a rebuild of the party that would avoid the catastrophe of the 2020 municipal elections, which saw Macron’s camp fail to win a single city.
Not only this, but if as I expect there will be a new round of legislative elections in 2025, then Renaissance will have even less time to prepare the troops and rebuild moral in the long-term.
There is also one major problem that Attal has to deal with, which could kill his presidential ambitions rapidly: the collapse of the presidential coalition.
With Edouard Philippe having already launched his own party, 2024 has seen former interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, do the same thing with his political movement. There will also be fears that the party will see similar things happen in the near future with Elisabeth Borne, who had a recently abortive attempt at contesting the party leadership.
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Yes, please. Marc Bloch information, and Strasbourg resistance!
Oh yes, actually haven't even heard or known about Marc Bloch, would love to know and learn more about him, but also Strasbourg resistance and additionally about his son and family too, always highly recommended to write about personalities we should be grateful for how they lived and which legacy they gave us 🇫🇷🤓📚🔖💯