Accused of having published an “anti-Semitic tweet”, the rapper Médine divides environmentalists, several of whom regret his invitation to the EELV summer days and consider his first apology insufficient, forcing their number one Marine Tondelier to raise his voice. -to 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 attached to respect for people, freedom, equality, solidarity and secularism (…) I cannot support and even less endorse the invitation of Medina” , wrote the MEP on X (ex-Twitter).
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, calling the essayist Rachel Khan – Jewish and small- deportee’s daughter – from “resKHANpée”.
His apologies for this “unsuitable formula, which must certainly have offended people”, had initially agreed to Ms. Tondelier, satisfied with this “unambiguous answer”.
But other environmentalists don’t see it that way. “When we write texts we measure the weight and the scope of the words”, reacted the deputy of Hauts-de-Seine Francesca Pasquini, judging that “there are no possible excuses”.
At the very least, “it’s not enough”, estimated Thursday on LCI the former boss of the party Julien Bayou, that the “filthy anti-Semitic overtones” of the initial tweet from Medina 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 slightly healthier debate”, she added, while fearing that “the summer days would be reduced to that”.
Fear shared by former presidential candidate Noël Mamère, who lamented on France Inter “a missed opportunity” for his former party, “in the process of lending the flank to 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”. That of Transport, Clément Beaune, drove the point home by taking the side of Karima Delli, whose “courageous message (the) honors and reflects (his) constant commitments”.
As the disagreements accumulate, Ms. Tondelier adopted a firmer tone towards her guest, promising 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 an “insidious anti-Semitism”, like other people “who do not realize the scope 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 rebellious France, in a much more consensual atmosphere.
“Medina is not racist. Why do you want to make him confess positions that are not his after having invited him?” Launched the rebellious leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon on Friday.
08/18/2023 21:52:37 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
