Accused of having published an “anti-Semitic tweet”, the rapper Médine divides environmentalists, several figures of whom regret his invitation to the EELV summer days and consider his first excuses insufficient, forcing their number one, Marine Tondelier, to raise the your vis-à-vis the artist. “Didn’t invite him”: MEP Karima Delli set foot in the dish on Friday morning. As an “ecologist and woman on the left, viscerally committed to respect for people, freedom, equality, solidarity and secularism […] I cannot support, let alone endorse, the invitation of Medina”, has writes the MEP on X (ex-Twitter).
I am an ecologist and a woman on the left, viscerally attached to respect for people, freedom, equality, solidarity
Scheduled next Thursday at the end of the day for a debate in Le Havre, his hometown, with the national secretary of the Greens, the rapper revived the recurring accusations of anti-Semitism against him, by qualifying the essayist Rachel Khan – Jewish and small- daughter of deportee – from “resKHANpée”. His apologies for this “unsuitable formula, which must certainly have offended people”, had initially agreed to Marine Tondelier, satisfied with this “unambiguous answer”.
At the very least, “it’s not enough,” former party boss Julien Bayou told LCI on Thursday, whom the “filthy anti-Semitic smacks” of Medina’s initial tweet made “very uncomfortable”. . The deputy for Paris, however, said he “trusts Marine Tondelier to set the framework” and “interrupt the debate if the clarification is not made”.
“There is still a condition for him to speak,” his colleague Sandrine Rousseau told AFP on Friday, hoping that the rapper “recognizes the anti-Semitic nature” of his tweet. An act of contrition to burst the abscess, which “would allow us to fall back on a somewhat healthier debate”, she added, while fearing that “the summer days would be reduced to that”.
A fear shared by former presidential candidate Noël Mamère, who lamented on France Inter “a missed opportunity” for his former party, “flanking all those who hate us (and) treat us as ‘Islamo-leftists’.
Already, the controversy has led the Minister of Industry, Roland Lescure, to cancel his visit to Le Havre, considering that “not going there was essential” because Medina “plays with ambiguity”. Transport Minister Clément Beaune drove home the point by siding with Karima Delli, whose “courageous message honors (him) and reflects (his) constant commitments”.
A courageous message that honors you and reflects your constant commitments, dear @KarimaDelli ???????? https://t.co/KQmZ3FhfDs
As the disagreements mount, Ms. Tondelier has adopted a firmer tone towards her guest, promising on Friday on France Inter to be “extremely attentive to what Medina will say” next Thursday and “the days that follow”.
According to her, the artist expressed “insidious anti-Semitism”, like other people “who do not realize the significance of their words”, whether “out of clumsiness” or “mimicry”, “stupidity” or ” ignoring “.
Like many rappers, Médine is used to provocations, in the lyrics of his songs as well as in certain declarations. Also accused of homophobia and communitarianism, he claimed last May “the right to make mistakes” and “contradiction”, and recognized “wandering”.
The leader of the ecologists hoped that their debate “serves at least to make sure to reduce anti-Semitism” in France. Rare support in the ranks, the deputy of Val-d’Oise Aurélien Taché “does not doubt that (this) exchange […] will be fascinating”, regretting in passing “the deadly debates on the so-called “republican left””.
After the Greens, Medina is also expected on Saturday at the summer university of La France insoumise, in a much more consensual atmosphere. “Medina is not racist. Why would you want to make him confess to positions that aren’t his after inviting him? launched the Insoumis leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon on Friday.
