Some 50 members of the French National Assembly from President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance Party have asked the president of the European Parliament to lift the parliamentary immunity of French far-left MEP Rima Hassan because of her presence at a pro-Hamas demonstration in Amman in mid-August.
They consider this presence as a form of “apology for terrorism.”
During the demonstration in the Jordanian capital on Aug. 16, “dozens of placards” were brandished in tribute to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, killed on July 31 in Tehran, wrote the MPs.
The MPs point out that “the slogans chanted” at the demonstration “paid tribute to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, [and] called for the murder of Jews and the waging of jihad against ‘miscreants.’”
The group of MPs has also filed a report with the Paris public prosecutor for “incitement to racial hatred” and “apology for terrorism.”
This report, made through a lawyer, is based on article 40 of the Penal Code, which requires “any constituted authority, any public officer or civil servant, in the exercise of their functions,” to report crimes or offenses of which they have knowledge, the signatories add.
The MPs said that Hassan, who is a member of the La France Insoumise (“France Unbowed”) Party, “provocatively displayed barely concealed support for the terrorist organization Hamas” as part of an “Islamist and pro-terrorist demonstration.”
In their report to the prosecutor, the lawyers for the group of MPs refer to tweets published on Hassan’s X account. According to them, the content she publishes on the social network constitutes “threats against political figures she considers close to the Israeli government.”
“Ms. Hassan has been participating without limit, for several months, in the dissemination of hatred of Jews in Europe, notably taking up several anti-Jewish conspiracy clichés and denying the State of Israel the right to exist,” they said.
In a letter to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the MPs ask her to lift the parliamentary immunity of the French MEP “should proceedings be brought against her.”
For Hassan, the rally which she attended was a “usual” demonstration, organized every Friday in Amman in support of the Palestinian cause, and it “is in no way a pro-Hamas demonstration or in homage to Hamas leaders.
“In all demonstrations in the region, whether in Lebanon or Jordan, there are demonstrators who may show their support for Hamas, but I cannot be responsible for that,” she added.
A Franco-Palestinian activist and a politician close to La France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Hassan was elected in the E.U. elections in June.
Originally published by the European Jewish Press.
