European Parliament member Rima Hassan sparked controversy by arguing that French Palestinians should be allowed to join what she termed “Palestinian armed resistance.” She reasoned that since French-Israelis can serve in the IDF. Hassan, a 32-year-old lawyer and the first French-Palestinian member of the EU Parliament, posted on X that only the “coloniality of the world” prevents accepting this equivalence.
“If Franco-Israelis are allowed to serve in the Israeli army while enjoying the benefits of dual nationality, any Franco-Palestinian must be able to join the Palestinian armed resistance whose legitimacy is recognized by the United Nations resolutions relating to the right to self-determination of peoples. The only thing that prevents you from considering it is the coloniality of the world,” wrote Hassan, a member of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and coordinator of the Human Rights Subcommittee.
Critics noted that several groups describing themselves as part of the pro-Palestinian “resistance” against Israel, such as Hamas and Hzbollah, are designated internationally — including by the EU itself — as terrorist organizations.
The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) quickly condemned Hassan’s statement, pointing out that the groups describing themselves as “armed resistance” – Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad – are officially designated as terrorist organizations by the European Union. CRIF questioned how an EU parliamentarian could advocate for joining such groups, comparing it to supporting Al Qaeda or ISIS.
Hassan, who was born in Syria to an Arab family that fled Israel in 1948, had previously drawn criticism for characterizing Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel as a “legitimate action.” She was subsequently questioned by police for “advocating terrorism.” She has used terminology like “from the river to the sea” and accused Israel of “genocide” and “apartheid” She describes Israel as being a “fascist colonial entity.”
Hassan is a member of the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party, which is part of the New Popular Front coalition. A recent CRIF survey found that 25% of LFI supporters express “sympathy” for Hamas, and 40% refuse to categorize it as a terrorist organization.Its leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon, has been criticized by French Jews as a threat to their community as well as those who support Israel. He has accused Jews of killing Jesus
The controversy comes amid a significant surge in antisemitic incidents in France, with such acts rising by over 1,000% in late 2023 compared to the previous year. Former Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin reported that antisemitic incidents have tripled in the first half of 2024, with 887 incidents recorded compared to 304 in the same period the previous year.
The party also pressured the French Foreign Ministry to announce in March that it would pursue legal action against any French-Israeli soldiers implicated in alleged war crimes in Gaza.
