Far-left EU lawmaker under fire after Israeli flag incident
Far-left French EU lawmaker, Rima Hassan, faced an investigation Tuesday after the Israeli and European Union flags were allegedly thrown to the floor at a commemoration for the 2023 Hamas attacks that set off the Gaza war.
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola said she took “extremely seriously” the allegations made against Rima Hassan, a Palestinian-origin lawmaker with La France Insoumise (LFI) party, following an event Monday marking three years since the October 7th, 2023 attacks.
“A member of this house was filmed apparently damaging an exhibition commemorating the victims of the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7th,” Metsola said in a statement on the incident.
“I want to underline that we take this extremely seriously and that all the appropriate steps according to our procedures are being taken, including the right of the person concerned to be heard,” she told lawmakers.
“The person concerned was seen allegedly throwing the flag of Israel to the ground, dropped a flagpole and the European Union flag was knocked down. Both flags were left lying on the ground before the member left the scene.”
Hassan’s staff said in a statement she had explained the events shortly after the controversy.
While leaving the exhibition venue, Hassan “removed the Israeli flag from its stand. The European Union flag, attached to the same base, then accidentally fell due to the loss of balance. Neither flag was trampled or damaged,” according to the statement sent to AFP.
“Our action was part of denouncing the ongoing genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli government,” but was “in no way aimed at the people this event sought to honour, nor at their memory,” it added.
“It is entirely possible — as we did with our group — to commemorate the victims of October 7th without associating ourselves with the genocidal Israeli state,” Hassan told the EU parliament on Tuesday.
Opponents have criticised Hassan however.
Right-wing French deputy Francois-Xavier Bellamy said that her act was “a form of complicity with those who — including within Europe — seek to re-import the antisemitic hatred that marked the darkest chapters of our continent’s history.”
Centrist French parliament member Nathalie Loiseau said on X: “Rima Hassan tramples on an Israeli flag at the European Parliament. October 7th is the day after tomorrow. LFI has plumbed the depths of indecency.”
In her statement Metsola went on to warn: “We cannot have actions that could make people fearful of speaking. We cannot have damage to property. And we cannot have attempts to intimidate rather than to debate.
“At a time of rising global antisemitism, we owe it to Europe’s Jewish community to ensure that when they look to us they see that this is their House too.”
Hassan was on a flotilla that attempted to reach Gaza last year and was among activists detained and later expelled by Israeli authorities.
