Rima Hassan’s message on October 7 embarrasses the left – Libération

The war between Hamas and IsraeldossierThe comments of the rebellious MEP on the social network X create a new controversy while Emmanuel Macron receives the party leaders of the New Popular Front this Friday.

It is a controversy that the forces of the New Popular Front, received this Friday by Emmanuel Macron to persuade him to open Matignon to them, would probably have done without. On the social network X, the LFI European deputy Rima Hassan, known for her commitment to the Palestinian cause, declared Thursday that “outside of Western hegemonic thinking, no one considers October 7 to be an act of terrorism.” She added that “for the vast majority of international experts, including those of the UN, the violations of international law committed by Hamas on October 7 can be described as war crimes. It is up to international jurisdictions to continue their work in this regard.”

The reason for these comments was the lack of mention of Hamas victims in the exhibition organized in New York on the occasion of the international day of tribute to victims of terrorism, which takes place every August 21. The UN responded to the criticism at a press conference held on Wednesday. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for Secretary-General António Guterres, stressed that “the Secretary-General has been very clear on this subject by repeatedly denouncing the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas against Israelis.” As early as October 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres had already had to react to the accusations of the State of Israel and had then condemned “unequivocally the horrific and unprecedented acts of terrorism committed by Hamas in Israel on October 7.”

“It is not possible to hold this speech”

Rima Hassan’s message – which did not respond to Libération’s request – earned her criticism from her political opponents, but also from within the New Popular Front alliance, of which her party is a member. Author of a documentary on the daily lives of Gazans under Israeli bombardment since October 7, LFI MP Aymeric Caron responded that “the Hamas attacks on October 7 are terrorist acts.”

“It is not possible to hold this discourse,” also judged the socialist deputy Arthur Delaporte, asking France Insoumise to “clearly condemn these unbearable remarks. Our program is unambiguous: the massacres of October 7 are terrorist.” The NFP program indeed commits to “acting for the release of the hostages held since the terrorist massacres of Hamas, whose theocratic project we reject, and for the release of Palestinian political prisoners.”

On April 29, on France 2, Rima Hassan had already expressed her position on the qualification of the Hamas attacks, explaining that it was necessary to “distinguish the legitimacy of an armed group to operate for its self-determination from the nature of its modus operandi. The attacks of October 7 constitute war crimes, even crimes against humanity.”

Parliamentary immunity

While Rima Hassan was publishing this tweet, another initiative, orchestrated by people close to the President, also provoked strong reactions. In a column published in Le Point, 51 deputies from the presidential camp demanded that the “president of the European Parliament lift Rima Hassan’s parliamentary immunity in the event of legal proceedings, as well as take disciplinary sanctions.” They accuse her of having participated in a pro-Hamas demonstration in Jordan. The elected official rejected this characterization for the gathering.