A book that has not yet gone on sale is already causing tremors in French politics. It is Les Complices du mal by Franco-Syrian journalist Omar Youssef Souleimane, and will be published in early October. The volume, the result of extensive field research, reveals the links between leaders of La France Insoumise (LFI), the far-left party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and Islamist organizations close to the Muslim Brotherhood and their growing influence in French political and social life.
The controversy erupted when LFI’s lawyers sent a legal notice to the publisher in an attempt to stop its release, accusing it of “attacking the honor of the movement.” Many interpreted this as an attempt at censorship: the book was not yet in circulation, and the complainants could hardly have read it. For the author himself, this reaction shows that he has struck a nerve: “I fled Syria to live in a free country, and thirteen years later I find politicians who want to silence me,” laments Souleimane.
At the heart of the book is an investigation into how LFI has forged relationships with Islamist groups operating in France, particularly those linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. Souleimane recounts how, disguised with a keffiyeh and sunglasses, he was able to infiltrate pro-Palestinian demonstrations and witness the relationship between LFI politicians and activists known for their ties to Hamas or the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
According to the journalist, these marches not only repeated openly antisemitic slogans, but also employed symbols, uniforms, and references taken directly from Hezbollah and Hamas. Alongside them, LFI figures such as Mathilde Panot, Thomas Portes, or Rima Hassan shared space with radical Islamist leaders without the slightest hesitation. The investigation thus points to a calculated strategy: the construction of an electoral alliance based on the so-called “Muslim community vote.”
The book also draws on official reports about the Muslim Brotherhood in France, which for years have warned of its ability to infiltrate local associations, NGOs, and welfare networks. The Islamist movement has allegedly found a fertile ground in the French welfare state—municipal subsidies, integration programs, social assistance—to consolidate itself.
This network of influence allows them to present their ideology as a defense of Muslims in France against a “hostile” state, while diverting public resources toward projects that promote values incompatible with the secular Republic the French claim to be proud of. Souleimane accuses the Left of being fully aware of this mobilizing power, yet preferring to turn a blind eye in exchange for electoral gains in districts where immigrant populations can swing the vote.
Souleimane’s investigation isn’t just an opinion piece—it is backed by photos, videos, and eyewitness accounts. That’s why it bothers the Left so much: it links hard evidence to a story about political opportunism, antisemitism, and Islamist networks in France. It even calls out specific politicians in the National Assembly who have supported these alliances.
In reality, the controversy has only just begun. LFI’s attempt to block the book seems to have had the opposite effect: multiplying interest in a work that, if its findings are confirmed, calls into question the French Left’s relationship with the Republic, secularism, and national security.
