A controversial photo exhibition titled "Israel: The Massacres of October 7, 2023" opened at Perpignan City Hall on Friday, drawing both supporters and protesters to the town square. The exhibition, installed in the city hall lobby at Place de La Loge, was inaugurated by far-right National Rally mayor Louis Aliot just before the opening of the 37th edition of Visa pour l'Image, the international photojournalism festival.
About twenty protesters gathered outside the building with Palestinian flags, chanting "No to genocide in Gaza!" as municipal police kept them at a distance from the city hall entrance. The demonstration occurred simultaneously with the exhibition's opening ceremony, highlighting the deep divisions surrounding the Middle East conflict in the French community.
The exhibition was co-organized with the October 7 Collective and is not part of the official Visa pour l'Image programming. In a statement released days before the opening, the city defended the exhibition, stating: "At a time when some question these massacres and systematically take our Jewish compatriots as scapegoats in France, this exhibition will set the record straight."
The announcement had already triggered strong reactions from local organizations, including the En Commun 66 association. The group issued a statement saying: "While we have always condemned the barbaric and terrorist acts of October 7, 2023, we cannot tolerate that the mayor of Perpignan takes sides with only this tragic face of the almost century-old conflict, making invisible the suffering of the Palestinian people."
One protester outside city hall expressed the complexity of the situation: "Of course October 7 was horrible, but let's think about the Palestinians – how many October 7ths have they experienced?" Another demonstrator, holding a Palestinian flag, criticized the timing: "Taking advantage of Visa's image for Mr. Aliot's exhibition is inadmissible and serious."
The protesters' chants could be heard inside the city hall, where dozens of people had gathered for the opening ceremony. Some attendees expressed frustration with the one-sided focus. Dominique Chemla, honorary deputy mayor, commented: "I don't understand how one can take sides in such a way. I think there are tragedies on both sides. But what happened on October 7, 2023, hadn't happened since World War II and is not acceptable."
The black and white photographs displayed in the exhibition are deeply disturbing, showing bodies along roadsides, human remains in plastic bags, and bullet impacts. Rabbi Chmouel Bensoussan from Perpignan was visibly moved by the images. "It's shocking, mind-boggling. We are very touched that Perpignan City Hall is organizing this exhibition. As for the anger outside, we're used to it. We know we're not loved. We deal with it."
For many in the Jewish community, daily life has become increasingly difficult since October 7. The president of Perpignan's Bnai Brith, a Jewish humanitarian organization, shared his personal struggles: "Today, I'm questioning whether I still have a place in France, even though I'm French and Jewish. The rise of antisemitism reminds us of the 1930s. Today, Jews can be lynched if they wear a kippah. Children are rejected because they're Jewish."
The controversy reflects broader tensions in French society over the Israel-Palestine conflict, with local officials and community leaders struggling to navigate between supporting different communities while maintaining social cohesion. The timing of the exhibition, coinciding with the prestigious international photojournalism festival, has amplified both the visibility and the controversy surrounding the mayor's decision to host the display.
