French Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan Arrested Over Social Media Post

Rima Hassan, 33, was born in the Neirab Palestinian refugee camp near Aleppo, Syria. Her family hails from the village of al-Birwa—depopulated in 1948—located south of Acre. She immigrated to France with her mother and five siblings at the age of nine, and at eighteen she obtained French citizenship. She later studied law at the Sorbonne University, where her thesis focused on apartheid in South Africa and Israel.

In June 2025, she joined the Freedom Flotilla bound for Gaza, sailing aboard the vessel Madeleine. She was accompanied by eleven others, including climate activist Greta Thunberg. The vessel was intercepted by the Israeli Navy in international waters about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the Palestinian coast as they attempted to deliver food, children’s prosthetics, and other urgently needed supplies to Gaza’s besieged population. Hassan stated that she was beaten while in Israeli custody.

Hassan was detained along with eleven peace activists and held in Israel for about a week. The French government did not condemn her detention nor demand her release, stating that it does not interfere in the internal affairs of foreign governments. Critics have compared this stance to positions sometimes taken by the U.S. State Department regarding Israel.

Moving forward to 2026, the pro-Palestinian lawmaker was taken into custody by Paris police on April 2 and accused of “glorifying terrorism” (a charge often applied to expressions of support for Palestinian resistance) in a social media post. October 7, 2023, she argued, represents the day Palestinian resistance broke the blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007, during which Israel has maintained an air, land, and sea siege on the territory.

Hassan is scheduled to appear before a judge on July 7 over a message she posted on X last month, according to the New York Times, citing the Paris prosecutor’s office. The message referred to Kozo Okamoto, who participated in the 1972 attack by the Japanese Red Army at Lod Airport in Tel Aviv, which resulted in 26 deaths. According to the Times, she quoted Okamoto as saying, “I dedicated my youth to the Palestinian cause. As long as there is oppression, resistance will not only be a right, but a duty.” Hassan later stated that the charges against her constitute “political, judicial, and media persecution” over her pro-Palestinian views.

On the bright side

• Presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused “the political police” of placing Hassan in custody over a retweet and of failing to respect her parliamentary immunity.
• Manon Aubry, another MEP from LFI, denounced what she called “judicial harassment” against Hassan.
• A group of students at the Free University of Brussels (ULB) named their graduating class after Rima Hassan.

Hassan faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, according to her lawyer, David-Olivier Kaminski, as reported by Harry North in the Montreal Gazette on April 2, 2026. She has since been released from custody but was denied entry to Canada, where she had been scheduled to speak at two conferences in Montreal and Québec.

Anti-Muslim hysteria is on the rise in France

• President Macron has been criticized for remarks perceived as dismissive of the concerns of France’s six million Muslims.
• The French Interior Minister has claimed that the presence of halal food aisles in supermarkets contributes to the “menace of terrorism.”
• The Interior Minister has also vowed to ban the wearing of the hijab by chaperones—women who accompany children on school trips—arguing that it stigmatizes children.

In 2020, two Muslim women were stabbed under the Eiffel Tower by white female attackers shouting “Dirty Arabs.” French media reported the attack only after three days.

• Some media commentary suggested that Muslims “cannot tolerate free speech.”
• Many citizens expressed the sentiment, “If you don’t like it, go back home.”

It is now illegal in France to question acts of terrorism attributed to Israel; critics argue that individuals risk being labeled antisemitic and potentially jailed. This has raised concerns about the state of free speech.

Some commentators claim that, as in the United States, foreign lobbying groups in France are pushing for restrictions on criticism of Israel. According to these critics, such efforts threaten both French and American constitutional freedoms.

Rima Hassan was welcomed as a hero in Paris by hundreds of pro-Palestine supporters following her release from Israeli captivity.
 

Thousands welcome Rima Hassan back in France after her freedom flotilla was attacked by Israel
 

French and American officials have been accused by activists of using force and politically motivated arrests against peaceful protesters on behalf of Israel. Supporters argue that Rima Hassan should not be left to face these pressures alone.

Mahmoud El-Yousseph is a Palestinian freelance writer and retired U.S. Air Force veteran. He writes on U.S. foreign policy, Middle East affairs, and justice. Email: elyousseph6@yahoo.com