The Franco-Tunisian Mohamed Makni, 73 years old, who campaigned for decades in the Socialist Party and served his commune with devotion, Echirolles, as Deputy Mayor, still cannot justify the rage of Justice and ultimately his conviction for having exerted his freedom of expression on the burning issue of the Middle East. He transmitted the following press release to the French press: “On March 26, 2024, I was condemned to 4 months of suspended incarceration at the Grenoble Criminal Court. As a reminder, I have been criticized for having shared on Facebook a column entitled “the cowards”, written by Mr OUNAIES, former Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
This castigated the position of Western powers regarding the “Palestinian resistance” and considered that “the imperative is indeed the defence of the Palestinian people”. Only half a punishment extracted from the forum was ultimately targeted by the prosecutor: “They are fast to describe it as terrorism, which, in our eyes, is an obvious act of resistance.”
I would like to point out that I denounced, as soon as I became aware of them, the actions of Hamas which consisted of attacking Israeli civilians. But what I’m being criticized for is calling the Palestinian national movement a “resistance”, regardless of the obvious disagreements I have with Hamas. A PS activist for 20 years and a municipal elected official, I have never shared the stance of this organization and it is unreasonable to accuse me of any form of complacency with it.
I however consider that it must be possible to debate the colonial context which led to the events of October 7. I am not the only one to defend this position and on an international scale, this is all a matter of debate. In this sense, the UN does not qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization, any more than the AFP which, on October 28, stated in a press release: “The use of the word terrorist is deeply politicized and sensitive. Many administrations label resistance or opposition movements in their countries as terrorist organizations. Many movements or personalities resulting from a resistance once described as terrorists have been recognized by the international community and have become major players in the political life of their country.
The most symbolic example is undoubtedly Nelson Mandela. Whether we share this position or not, the debate is a matter of freedom of expression and the sanction of a prison sentence is incredibly heavy and seeks to stop any form of public contradiction on the issue. This is the reason why, with my lawyer Elsa Marcel, we chose to appeal this decision.”