Order and controversy. On Sunday, La France insoumise national coordinator Manuel Bompard was the guest of the “Political Questions” program, which was broadcast live on the antennas of France Inter and franceinfo TV. One of the topics discussed was the election of Zohran Mamdani in New York, which was welcomed by left groups and especially LFI.
»He is openly pro-Palestinian and he takes the slogans of his time, the slogan of globalizing the intifada, in short, waging war on the Jewish people everywhere in the world. And when we ask him to condemn October 7, he often hits the mark and repeats that the problem is the Israeli occupation. Doesn’t that surprise you?», asked Alix Bouilhaguet to Manuel Bompard.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, for telling you this, but I believe you are here to inform the people and not misinform them. And in this case, with your questions, you are giving them misinformation” the elected official replied, denouncing the “false information” mentioned earlier by the journalist.
“The journalist made factually incorrect statements”
The scene, captured by internet users on the social network X and later viewed millions of times, sparked fierce criticism. More than 24 hours after this interview, La France insoumise decided to contact the National Union of Journalists, the Society of Journalists (SDJ) France Télévisions, the Association of Journalists France Inter, the mediator Radio France and finally Arcom.
“On several occasions during this interview, the journalist made factually false statements, which had to be corrected immediately by Manuel Bompard,” LFI alleged in its press release. “These repeated errors have led to the dissemination of false information to the public, which is in direct conflict with the basic rules of journalistic ethics imposed on the public broadcasting service. »
Alleged links between UNRWA and Hamas were discussed directly
“On expression globalization of the intifadaMadame Bouilhaguet confirmed that the mayor of New York would adopt this expression, even though she explicitly stated not to use it,” Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party later explained. “She then stated, incorrectly, that New York elected official Zohran Mandani would not condemn the October 7 attacks. »
“Finally, he questioned the fact that these elected officials were raising funds for UNRWA, stating: The exact information is that he raised funds for UNRWA, the UN agency accused of colluding with Hamas, that is also not a problem. », continued LFI. “Such formulations are tantamount to repeating the disinformation campaign waged for months to discredit the UN agency. However, the International Court of Justice recently confirmed that Israel had not provided any evidence for these accusations, and warned that as an occupying power, it should instead facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestine.”
For now, SDJ France Télévisions has not reacted to this controversy, just like Alix Bouilhaguet.
