Freedom Flotilla: Has La France Insoumise succeeded in drawing attention to Gaza and putting pressure on the government?

A member of the crew detained by Israeli authorities, LFI MEP Rima Hassan landed in France on Thursday and celebrated her return with her supporters in Paris.

Rima Hassan is back in France. Deported by Israel on a flight to Paris on Thursday, June 12, the Franco-Palestinian activist was cheered at a support rally in Place de la République in Paris. This is the epilogue of the Flotilla for Freedom operation , launched by an international coalition of NGOs and in which the European deputy of La France Insoumise participated, abundantly supported by the elected members of her party on social networks. On June 1, the sailboat Madleen left Sicily with twelve people, including six French, on board, including Rima Hassan. With the aim of reaching the Gaza Strip, in order to provide symbolic humanitarian aid and raise international awareness of the plight of Gazans. The ship was finally prevented from reaching the coast by the Israeli army on Monday, and its occupants detained and then expelled. An epic with multiple twists and turns, which regularly fueled the news throughout these ten days.

The radical left movement openly welcomes the results of this mobilization. For Thomas Portes, LFI MP, this operation is a success "because it has put the situation in Gaza and the blockade of humanitarian aid at the center of public debate," he explains to franceinfo. "For several weeks, it had gone unmentioned," regrets the elected representative of Seine-Saint-Denis, for whom his party "is winning the cultural battle" on the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This operation, widely relayed on social networks and during media appearances by LFI executives, helped to strengthen mobilization for the Palestinian cause, even to regenerate it. On Monday, more than a hundred demonstrations were organized in France to demand the release of the passengers of the boat boarded by the Israeli army. "It's a very successful communication operation, the Freedom Flotilla. It's even a 'masterclass' [a masterclass]," concedes a central bloc MP. " So, yes, it's indecent, horrible, and it's only communication, but for their electorate, they are very strong," he believes.

"The stroke of genius is the presence of Greta Thunberg," the famous Swedish environmental activist, adds a political communicator. "She's a global figure, it allows us to put aside the French-French controversies surrounding Rima Hassan. It allows us to connect with environmental activists. It's the Maoist strategy of putting stars forward to ensure buzz ," he continues, evoking "the figure of Jean-Paul Sartre," briefly arrested with Simone de Beauvoir in 1970 for distributing a newspaper in the streets of Paris, recalls the INA . "This operation made it possible to offer another angle on the subject to slightly renew the media coverage of Gaza. It was anticipated and controlled from start to finish. It's a success," concludes this communications professional.

Véronique Reille Soult, an online opinion specialist, tempers this observation somewhat. "'Gaza flotilla' resonates on social media, but it doesn't change anything for people who aren't involved. They don't criticize the operation, believing that everything should be done, but it doesn't change their opinion," says the president of the consulting firm Backbone Consulting. "The shift happened before. What triggered public opinion was the information about the blockade of humanitarian aid . The flotilla arrives in this context and takes advantage of it, but it's not the one that brings about this shift," she concludes.

The other objective is more political. It was intended, in particular, to force the government to take sides with Rima Hissan in the standoff she has engaged in with the Israeli government to secure her release, in the name of the support the French state owes to one of its citizens in difficulty in a foreign territory. " This is a trap for Jean-Noël Barrot. Either he addresses Rima Hassan's fate and we criticize him. Or he doesn't address Rima Hassan's fate and we criticize him too," comments a politician close to the minister.

"For him, the only way out of the trap was to be exemplary in consular law but to denounce the cynicism of the operation."

A close friend of Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister of Foreign Affairs

to franceinfo

This is the strategy implemented by the minister on Wednesday. It took two steps: first, with a tweet thanking the services of the French embassy in Israel, which resolved the situation.

Then, at the podium of the National Assembly, during the traditional question session with the government, Jean-Noël Barrot then targeted the rebellious European deputy: "In no way, and in no way, do the gesticulations of Mrs. Rima Hassan, her exploitation of the suffering of the Gazans, contribute to the achievement of her objectives," he declared in the hemicycle. " Gaza does not need a communication operation from Rima Hassan, Gaza needs humanitarian aid. Immediate, massive and unhindered," he also lashed out at X.

In the aftermath, the Prime Minister was challenged by the leader of the rebellious deputies, Mathilde Panot, who accused the government of adopting the "talking points" of Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the Israeli government. "I must tell you that these activists achieved the effect they wanted to achieve, but that this is an exploitation to which we must not lend ourselves ," replied François Bayrou. And I believe, to tell you the bottom of what I think, that those who launched the assault of October 7 wanted to achieve the situation in which we are today," he insisted, referring to Hamas. This provoked the anger of the LFI deputies, who left the chamber with a bang .

Shortly afterward, the Minister of Foreign Affairs met informally with LFI elected officials at the National Assembly to update them on consular procedures. He informed them that their petition campaign, with 45,000 emails received, was clogging up the address of the crisis and support center for French people experiencing problems abroad, Jean-Noël Barrot's entourage told franceinfo.

The rebels continued to put pressure on the government by demanding to be received by Emmanuel Macron "in order to address the completely illegal detention of four of our fellow citizens, including a French elected official, by the Israeli authorities." "Faced with this unacceptable situation, France must work by all means for the immediate and unconditional release of the prisoners and to ensure respect for our country and international law. It is clear that the government is falling short of the situation," wrote the movement's leaders in a letter made public on their social networks.