CONTROVERSY. Grégory Doucet cancels the conference with the Franco-Palestinian Salah Hamouri in Lyon

The conference scheduled for Lyon on February 1 in the presence of Salah Hamouri will not take place. The day after a commemoration during which Grégory Doucet was booed by the Jewish community, the town hall, given formal notice by the prefecture, announced the cancellation of the event.

The conference scheduled for Lyon on February 1 at the invitation of the municipality will not take place.

The mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, criticized by the Jewish community and several opposition politicians, finally gave up inviting Salah Hamouri, as part of a conference on the Oslo Accords in Lyon. He took refuge in France after being expelled from Israel, where he is suspected of terrorism.

Contacted by telephone, the Chief Rabbi of Lyon, Daniel Dayan, believes that this affair marks “a fracture” with the Jewish community. “I no longer expect anything from the mayor of Lyon”, he added, considering that he had “shown contempt and stupidity towards the Jewish community by not going to the commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz camp preferring Chinese New Year festivities.

The day before Florence Delaunay, deputy mayor Grégory Doucet, had been booed on Place Bellecour where the Jewish community of Lyon had gathered in front of the Watcher of Stone to commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz camp. The crowd present then called for the resignation of the mayor.

The mayor was not there but each time his name was mentioned, whistles and other invectives punctuated the speech of Jean-Claude Nerson, president of the association of former deportees

After a week of heated controversy, it was finally the prefecture that gave the city formal notice to make a decision, given the risk of public order disturbances.

On February 1, a demonstration at the call of several Jewish organizations was planned in front of the town hall.

“In view of the situation in the Middle East, the irresponsible postures of calls for hateful demonstrations and my role in ensuring the safety of all, I have decided with my team and the people participating in this conference to postpone his attendance.” , said Grégory Doucet in a letter addressed to the Concorde et Solidarités group and the associations this Monday, January 30, 2023, which we were able to consult.

Salah Hamouri, traveling to London on Monday January 30, 2023 reacted by telephone:

“I have participated in hundreds of conferences in cities in France and unfortunately this cancellation will empower all the forces fighting against freedom of expression and democracy.”

The latter recalls that he is supported by the French State which has officially denounced his expulsion from Israel. As an East Jerusalem resident, he was deemed “disloyal to the Jewish state.”

>>>>>Who is Salah Hamouri?

Friday, January 27, the Chief Rabbi of Lyon, Daniel Dahan, had left an interfaith group created by the town hall of Lyon to protest against the invitation of Salah Hamouri.

A strong and very noticeable gesture because the Concorde et Solidarité group was created in 2002 following the attack on the synagogue in the La Duchère district of Lyon, it brought together representatives of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths.