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Rima Hassan had previously described the October 7 massacre as "legitimate."
By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD DECEMBER 20, 2024 20:16
Rima Hassan, the then candidate for the European elections on the list of La France Insoumise (LFI), attends a pro-Palestinian protest in central Paris, France, May 29, 2024.
(photo credit: REUTERS/Abdul Saboor)
French European lawmaker Rima Hassan, 32, stirred condemnations on Wednesday after she posted on X/Twitter that “any Franco-Palestinian must be able to join the Palestinian armed resistance” so long as it is permissible for other French citizens to join the IDF.
“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,” Hassan, a member of the far-left La France Insoumise wrote. “The only thing that prevents you from considering it is the coloniality of the world.”
Si les franco israéliens sont autorisés à servir dans l’armée israélienne tout en jouissant des acquis de la double nationalité. Tout franco palestinien doit pouvoir rejoindre la résistance armée palestinienne dont la légitimité est reconnue par les résolutions des nations unies…
— Rima Hassan (@RimaHas) December 18, 2024The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) noted that many groups forming the “Palestinian armed resistance” are recognized as terror groups in France and Europe.
“The organizations that claim to be part of the Palestinian ‘armed resistance’ — Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, etc. — are all recognized as terrorists by the European Union,” CRIF posted on X. “Can you imagine a European MP calling for people to join Al Qaeda or Daesh [ISIS]? If Rima Hassan wanted peace and truly defended the Palestinians, she would fight Hamas instead of defending it without taking responsibility.”
Since making the post, she has also published claims that “From European antisemitism to the emergence of Zionist supremacist ideology, through the Sykes-Picot agreements, those historically responsible for the tragedy of the Palestinian people and the risk of disappearance they face today are the European countries and they alone.”
Hassan’s family are from Syria, according to the Algemeiner. They fled to Europe after the 1948 War of Independence. She became a naturalized citizen in 2010.
Defending Hamas, Oct. 7
This is not the first time Hassan’s controversial statements have made headlines. As reported by the Jerusalem Post in July, Hassan referred to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks as “legitimate.”
The “legitimate” attacks saw Hamas violate an existing ceasefire, invade southern Israel and murder some 1200 people. During Hamas’s massacre, which included acts of sexual violence and brutality against civilians, foreign nationals and soldiers, the invading terrorists abducted over 250 people.
Since the attack over a year ago, the Palestinian armed resistance has launched rocket attacks against civilian communities, continued to hold hostages and claimed responsibility for several terror attacks.
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Hassan’s statements spread beyond Europe as, according to the Jewish News Syndicate, she appeared at a pro-Hamas rally in Amman in August. Her reported appearance led to some 50 members of the French National Assembly asking the president of the European Parliament to lift her parliamentary immunity.
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