Emmanuel Macron announces a tribute to Gisèle Halimi at the Invalides “early 2022” – Le Monde

Since the death of Gisele Halimi, on July 28, 2020, Emmanuel Macron is racking his brains to find out what tribute to pay to the former lawyer, activist for women’s rights and the struggle for Algerian independence. Should it be the subject of a ceremony at the Invalides? Or enter the Pantheon, among the great figures of French and Republican history? The head of state ended up deciding by announcing, Monday, August 23, that the first hypothesis was finally retained. “Her ‘fierce freedom’ she used to free others. Through her struggles for equality, Gisèle Halimi changed and still changes the lives of millions of women. In agreement with his family, the Nation will pay homage to him at the beginning of 2022 at the Invalides ”, wrote Mr. Macron on his Twitter account.

This announcement comes a few hours after the Elysee Palace formalized the upcoming entry to the Pantheon, on November 30, of the former resistance fighter and former Franco-American review leader, Joséphine Baker. “World-renowned music hall artist, committed to the Resistance, tireless anti-racist activist, she was involved in all the fights that bring together citizens of good will, in France and around the world”, underlined the Presidency of the Republic in a press release on Monday about this “Incarnation of the French spirit”.

The decision, prerogative of the Head of State, was unanimously welcomed. But it is also perceived by some as a way of giving up paying a comparable homage to Gisèle Halimi. The entry into the Pantheon of the one who defended members of the Algerian FLN (National Liberation Front) was indeed among the recommendations of the report submitted in January to Emmanuel Macron by the historian Benjamin Stora with a view to “Reconcile memories” between France and Algeria.

“I am very happy that Joséphine Baker is welcomed to the Pantheon, but I am not fooled by this ricochet choice which makes it possible not to bring Gisèle Halimi into it., denounces the deputy of Val-d’Oise (ex-La République en Marche, LRM), Aurélien Taché. We are in the great Macronian classic: we welcome a black woman with a remarkable commitment and career to hide the fact that we refuse the one who was in the anti-colonial fight. In Emmanuel Macron’s entourage, some are afraid of angering the harkis. “

“Fear of controversy”

The Head of State is to chair, on September 25, the national day of homage to these Algerian fighters who stood alongside France during the war of independence (1954-1962). Eight months away from the 2022 presidential election, the memory work carried out on this issue is at high risk. Starting with that of finding oneself hostage to political considerations. The right and the far right, in fact, await Emmanuel Macron at the turn, while the sixty years of the Evian agreements consecrating Algerian independence will come less than a month before the first round of the ballot, on April 10.

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