his son Serge refuses to attend
Gisele Halimi in 2010. Jack GUEZ / AFP
The journalist justifies his decision by the fact that the tribute comes in full mobilization against a pension reform that the feminist activist would have fought.
Journalist Serge Halimi, one of the sons of Gisèle Halimi who died in 2020, will not participate in the national tribute to the lawyer scheduled for Wednesday, because it occurs in full mobilization against a pension reform that the feminist activist would have fought, he announced on Sunday. Serge Halimi, former director of Diplomatic worldsaid to have beensuddenly informed” this week by the Presidency of the Republic, “along with the press“, that this tribute would take place on Wednesday, March 8, on International Women’s Rights Day.
“I will not participate. The decision of the Élysée comes after more than two years of procrastination and while the country is mobilized against an extremely unfair pension reform of which women who occupy the most difficult jobs will be the first victims.“Said Serge Halimi in a statement sent to AFP.
Read also“The word harms the cause it claims to defend”: when “feminism” crystallizes tensions
“My mother would have defended their cause and demonstrated alongside them. March 8 will be the best way to honor his memory and his struggles“added the journalist, who told AFP that he had”never had contact with the Élysée, nor with any official, since the death of (his) mother“.
TO HAVE ALSO – Emmanuel Macron will chair a national tribute to Gisèle Halimi on March 8
“Political instrumentalization»
Serge Halimi thus agrees with the position expressed by Violaine Lucas, the president of the association “Choose the cause of women“, founded by Gisèle Halimi and Simone de Beauvoir in 1971. Organizing this national tribute in the midst of protest against the pension reform is a “political instrumentalization“, estimated Violaine Lucas, who will not participate either in the ceremony planned at the Palais de justice in Paris. Conversely, lawyer Jean-Yves Halimi, brother of Serge, one of Gisèle’s sons, said to himself “very satisfiedat the announcement of this tribute. “I always thought she deserved it“, he underlined.
Read also“#MeToo-feminism is a clean slate ideology”
Lawyer, politician and writer, Gisèle Halimi, who died on July 28, 2020 at the age of 93, made her life a fight for women’s rights. She notably worked for the decriminalization of abortion, then for its coverage by Social Security. Previously, she had denounced the use of torture during the Algerian war by the French soldiers, which had earned her an arrest and a brief detention. Besides Serge and Jean-Yves, Gisèle Halimi had a third son, journalist Emmanuel Faux, who died in August 2022.
