Macron video supporting protests in Lebanon resurfaces amid France unrest

A video has resurfaced this week showing French President Emmanuel Macron in August 2020 backing protests in Lebanon in contrast with his recent comments against demonstrations in France.

In the brief video shared on social media, Macron can be seen declaring that it was the Lebanese people who hold the power to carry out a revolution against the ruling elite.

"You are asking me if I am encouraging a revolution? A revolution is not encouraged! It is the people who decide," Macron said in the video, which was recorded during a press conference in Beirut days after the devastating port blast of August 2020. The Beirut port explosion had sparked protests against Lebanon's political elite resulting in the resignation of the government at the time.

The caption shared on the video on Twitter read: "Macron to the Lebanese in 2020: Revolutions don't happen at the behest of anyone - it is the people who choose to do them! - Macron to the French in 2023: Protests are illegal and no one has the right to riot!"

ماكرون عام 2020 للبنانيين 🇱🇧: الثورة لا تحدث بأمر من أحد بل الناس هم من يقررون القيام بها.

- ماكرون عام 2023 للفرنسيين 🇫🇷: الاحتجاجات ليست قانونية ولا يحق لأحد القيام بأعمال شغب pic.twitter.com/FxsZakDYMt

— الجيش الإلكتروني الصحـراوي (@ElMarrokiamir) June 30, 2023

It came in contrast to Macron's recent comments on Friday in which he said that the protests in France were unlawful and appealed to parents of protesters to keep their children off the streets, threatening them with jail. 

It also comes amid the arrest of thousands who joined the demonstrations, which were sparked by the fatal police shooting of a teenager of Algerian descent.

The video received attention from Arabic language Twitter accounts which have widely shared it, garnering almost two million views and thousands of retweets within 48 hours.

A 2013 tweet by the French foreign ministry in Arabic was also shared, which said that France "defends the right to protest everywhere in the world, and condemns the use of force against protesters".

The grandmother of Nahel M, the French-Algerian teenager whose killing by police sparked unrest in France has called for calm

https://t.co/QSTu4uYcgM

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) July 3, 2023

"Has the ban been lifted on social media platforms?" Twitter user @SalemAl_Nasser said in reference to Macron saying that the French government would work with social media sites to take down "the most sensitive content" and identify users who "call for disorder".

"Where is the freedom of expression?" Twitter user @conti352 asked.

"'France is a country of liberties' yet at the first crisis he suppressed his people!" user @a9z9n tweeted.

"We demand that the French regime protects the right to demonstrate! To every French citizen [we say] the revolution does not happen at the behest of anyone, but rather at the will of people who carry it out!" user @redaho said.

The unrest in France sparked by the police killing was a deeply unwelcome and perilous crisis for Macron, just as he was looking to press ahead with his second mandate.