Controversy in Toulouse: an LFI deputy criticized for a photo of a swimming pool with a towel in the colors of Palestine
The La France Insoumise (LFI) deputy for Haute-Garonne, Hadrien Clouet, recently sparked a heated controversy by publishing on X (formerly Twitter) a photo showing him in a municipal swimming pool in Toulouse with a towel in the colors of the Palestinian flag. In his post, he commented: “The heatwave is coming back. It’s time to cool off in the municipal swimming pool in Toulouse.”
This publication was quick to provoke an immediate reaction from Jean-Luc Moudenc, mayor of Toulouse and former member of the Republicans. Moudenc criticized Clouet's approach by asserting that municipal swimming pools, as a public service, must remain neutral and non-politicized. “Our municipal swimming pools are a public service open to ALL Toulouse residents, whatever their opinions. They are places of relaxation where political debates have no place,” he said. He also stressed that sport, like the Olympic Games, is supposed to unite around common values rather than divide.
In response, Hadrien Clouet was ironic by asking a question about bathing cap”, and “cassette player”.
Johnny Duval, another elected official from the municipal majority, accused Clouet of being “unworthy of his mandate”, describing his gesture as “provocation”. Nicole Yardeni, former president of CRIF Midi-Pyrénées and member of the majority, also criticized the photo, calling it "provocative", linking it to the Alfred Nakache swimming pool, named after a swimmer deported during the Second World War. World War.
This controversy comes in a broader context of local political tensions regarding LFI's positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Before Jean-Luc Mélenchon came to Toulouse, Moudenc had called on Mélenchon to adopt a more calming speech in the face of the recent escalations of violence between Israel and Hamas.
