Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused of anti-Semitism following his feedback on the pronunciation of the title of Jeffrey Epstein, throughout a gathering in Lyon | EUROtoday

Having come to help the candidates of La France insoumise (LFI) at Lyon city corridor on the night of Thursday February 26, Jean-Luc Mélenchon was as soon as once more accused of anti-Semitism.

For about twenty seconds, the chief of LFI targeted on the pronunciation of the title of Jeffrey Epstein, well-known American youngster molester, who died in jail in 2019 and whose a number of relationships in financial and political circles had been revealed after the publication of paperwork by the American administration. “Unless it’s the case [èpchtaïne]. Ah, I meant [èpstine]pardon. It looks more Russian, [èpstine]eh… So now you will say [ènnstine] instead of[ènnchtaïne], [frankenstine] instead of [frankenchtaïne]. Well, there you go, right? Everyone understands how to do it…”he said. In this case, Mr. Mélenchon is wrong: in Russian, Epstein is written Эпштейн and is pronounced “èpchtéïne”.

His comments caused the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France, Yonathan Arfi, to react: “With all due respect to Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a fifth grader knows that in English “Epstein” is pronounced “Epstine”he wrote on his X account. The journalists therefore only pronounce an American name… in the American way. Seeing manipulation in this pronunciation is a conspiratorial delusion with real anti-Semitic overtones”he added.

“Unacceptable”

“It’s obviously the codes of anti-Semitism, it’s unacceptable”estimated, for his part, the former Minister of the Economy, Eric Lombard, Friday morning on RTL, while the Minister Delegate in charge of equality between men and women, Aurore Bergé, considers that “anti-Semitism in France is written in three letters: LFI”. Before adding, on his X account, that “face [aux “insoumis”]there is only one possible attitude: combat. Let everyone take their responsibilities. Everyone should clean up. Not a voice for these anti-Semites. »

The first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, wrote about “ [qu’est] anti-fascist he who fights fascism, not he who reuses its most dangerous means”. Laurence Rossignol, senator from Val-de-Marne, denounced, for her part, on the same network, the fact that a “political leader [fasse] laughing in a room while reciting Jewish names, emphasizing their pronunciation, with a grin of hatred”. By bidding: “It no longer has anything to do with Gaza. It only has to do with the most terrifying anti-Semitism. »

Friday morning, Jean-Luc Mélenchon responded to the criticism: “I was ironic about wanting to make a name with “Epstine” to russify the problem”he wrote, on his X account, responding that “anti-Semitism is on the side of those who want to bring everything back to this subject”and denouncing “the brutalization of political life, (…) on the side of those who want to silence us with threats and insults at every turn.”