This year’s Fête de l’Humanité focused on solidarity with Palestine and opposition to Emmanuel Macron’s manipulation of France’s post-election process
September 16, 2024
The 89th edition of the Fête de l’Humanité brought together over 450,000 participants for three days of political debate, musical, and cultural performances. The festival addressed major issues facing movements in France, from the rise of the far-right to international movements like the fight for Palestine’s liberation and Kanak self-determination.
Speakers included international figures like Angela Davis, representatives from France’s so-called overseas territories like Kanak MP Emmanuel Tjibaou, and local activists such as anti-fascist and France Unbowed MP Raphaël Arnault.
Given the political upheaval that followed President Emmanuel Macron’s post-election maneuvers, significant attention was focused on the future of the New Popular Front (NFP). Macron’s controversial decision to appoint Michel Barnier as Prime Minister, bypassing the NFP, has sparked intense debate and brought hundreds of thousands of people on the streets.
Leaders from all NFP parties attended the Fête de l’Humanité, dissecting Macron’s strategy and reaffirming the coalition’s intent to stay united despite attempts to break it up. Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), left no doubts about this intent: “We must remain united and strong to change France and people’s lives. To move forward, we must preserve this union as a common good.”
Speakers from the lines of the NFP used the platform given to them by the festival to reassert their call to action, encouraging the public to protest Macron’s tactics.
Another spotlight of the Fête de l’Humanité was international solidarity, particularly with the Palestinian liberation struggle. This section of the program brought together speakers from across the world, sharing experiences from different areas of struggle. These included health workers who had volunteered in the occupied territories and European activists advocating for Palestinian liberation.
Nasser Abu Baker, President of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, and Hala Abou Hassira, Palestinian ambassador to France, were among those appealing to the participants to continue their solidarity campaigns. “We will never give up our battle for our right to self-determination, and we are counting on you at a time when Israel is attacking the very existence of our people,” said Abou Hassira.
The Fête de l’Humanité once again energized the left-wing and progressive movements in France, and provided an important meeting point for political parties that are trying to build power in the face of both far-right challenges and liberal efforts to block people-centered policies.
We remind our readers that publication of articles on our site does not mean that we agree with what is written. Our policy is to publish anything which we consider of interest, so as to assist our readers in forming their opinions. Sometimes we even publish articles with which we totally disagree, since we believe it is important for our readers to be informed on as wide a spectrum of views as possible.
