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Rima Hassan

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Rima Hassan
Official portrait, 2024
Member of the European Parliament
for France
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 July 2024
Personal details
Born
Rima Hassan Mobarak

(1992-04-28) 28 April 1992 (age 32)
Neirab camp, Aleppo, Syria
CitizenshipPalestine • France
Political partyLFI (2023–present)
Alma materParis 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University
Université de Montpellier
University of Évry Val d'Essonne
OccupationJurist • Lawyer • Politician

Rima Hassan Mobarak (Arabic: ريما حسان مبارك, Rīmā Ḥasān Mubārak; born 28 April 1992) is a French-Palestinian jurist, human rights activist and politician born in the Palestinian refugee camp of Neirab, near Aleppo, Syria.

Stateless, she arrived in France around the age of nine and settled with her family in Niort. After obtaining French nationality upon reaching adulthood, she earned a master's degree in international law from Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

Hassan then founded, in 2019, the 'Refugee Camps Observatory', an NGO dedicated to the study and protection of refugee camps worldwide. In 2023, she founded the 'Action Palestine France' collective. That same year, she joined La France Insoumise to contest the 2024 European parliament election on Manon Aubry's list. She was elected to the European Parliament on 9 June 2024.[1]

Family and origins

[edit]

Rima Hassan Mobarak was born on 28 April 1992, in the Neirab camp, near Aleppo, Syria.[2]

She is the youngest of six children. Her mother, Nabiha (1958-2021), was a teacher, while her father is a former mechanic in the Syrian Air Force named Ahmad.[3] Her father's parents, Palestinians originally from the village of Al-Birwa, were forced into exile to Syria during the creation of Israel in May 1948 during the Nakba.[4][5]

Her maternal grandmother, on the other hand, came from a prominent Syrian family, the Hananu. She married a Palestinian refugee from Salfit.[5][6] Because of her notable status and his being a Palestinian communist refugee, she chose to forsake her heritage and settle with him in the camp.[3]

Youth and studies

[edit]

Due to the unhappy marriage and an abusive relationship between her parents, Hassan's mother left the camp shortly after her birth and managed to immigrate to France, where she reunited with one of her sisters.[3] She then spent eight years attempting to regain custody of her children and transfer them to France.[3]

Her mother ultimately managed to do it, and Hassan arrived in France around the age of nine. She settled in Niort, in the Deux-Sèvres department, with her mother,[7] sister and four brothers.[8] She was elected to the children's municipal council in 2003, in Niort.[9] She studied there at Ernest Pérochon Primary School.[10] During this time, her mother did not work as a teacher, her original profession, but instead worked in restaurants to support her family.[3] Hassan was targeted by hate speech during her schooling, including being called ethnic slurs like 'bougnoule' (wog) by her classmates.[3] This led to a progressive loss of her native language, Arabic.[3] She obtained a scientific baccalaureate from La Venise Verte High School in 2011.[10]

Stateless until her adulthood, she obtained French nationality in 2010.[4] As soon as she reached the age of majority, she sought to travel to Palestine via Tel Aviv, intending to "finally discover the land of her ancestors", but she was prevented from boarding at Charles de Gaulle Airport.[7]

After these events, she pursued studies in law and obtained her bachelor's degree. For this, she spent two years at the University of Évry, then one year at the University of Montpellier, until 2014.[10] She spent a year in Lebanon and completed her master's degree in 2016 at Panthéon-Sorbonne University (Paris 1).[8] She focused on the legal comparison between South Africa and Israel in a master's thesis in international law on the issue of apartheid.[11][12]

According to her, obtaining her degree from Panthéon-Sorbonne was a source of great pride for her mother because the university's reputation would have been known even in the Neirab camp.[3]

Work

[edit]

Hassan joined the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) in 2016,[8] and after 18 months, she worked at the National Court of Asylum Law[4][13] for six years until 2023.[7] In 2019, she founded the NGO 'Refugee Camps Observatory'.[8][14][3][15] The following year, Hassan participated in a roundtable organized by Emmaus for the World Refugee Day, on 20 June.[16]

In 2022, the Interministerial Delegation for Reception and Integration dedicated a portrait to her as an "Inspirational Woman".[17][18] That same year, she revisited the notion of "fraternity" from the French national motto in a podcast, along with other participants.[19]

On 3 February 2023, she spoke at the French Senate for the symposium "Israel-Palestine: State of Affairs" organized by Paris Senator Esther Benbassa, in collaboration with L'Histoire and the French Research Center in Jerusalem.[12][20] Her intervention addressed the issue of apartheid in Israeli society.[21]

Following the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, amid the bombing of the Gaza Strip and the ground offensive launched by Israel, she terminated her contract with the National Court of Asylum Law and declined an advocacy position on migration issues offered by Amnesty International. Instead, she moved to the Palestinian refugee camp of al-Nayrab, near Aleppo, "to be close to her people" and established the Action Palestine France collective on Telegram.[7]

Until November 2023, she also advised L'Oréal on diversity and refugee integration issues.[22]

Political career

[edit]

In August 2023, Hassan participated in the summer days organized by The Ecologists, alongside the rapper Médine or the politician Clémentine Autain.[23]

In the 2024 European elections, Hassan joined the list of La France Insoumise (LFI), where she was placed seventh,[24][25] after also being approached to be on the list of The Greens but in a non-eligible position.[26][27] She was elected.[28] She explains her political commitment to LFI's list by the "urgent need to act politically now" regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip.[29]

Political positions

[edit]

Living conditions of refugees and reception of migrants

[edit]

In May 2020, Hassan expressed concern to Agence France-Presse about the health and security effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in refugee camps.[30] In September 2020, she intervened within a collective and associations to call on the French government and local elected officials to mobilize to welcome refugees and thus help improve the humanitarian situation in the Mória camp in Greece.[31]

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

[edit]
Rima Hassan speaking a protest in support of the Palestinian people in Marseille

Rima Hassan has long advocated the creation of a democratic bi-national state as a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[32][26][33] She wrote in November 2023 that "there will be no two-state solution",[34] and that "the solution is a democratic and secular bi-national state."[35] Explaining herself later, she specified that she "dreams" of a bi-national state with peaceful coexistence of Palestinians and Israelis, and is in favor of the two-state solution,[34][36] a solution defended by her party La France Insoumise.[26]

She uses the pro-Palestinian slogan "from the river to the sea",[34] which she argues "has existed for a very long time, and historically has absolutely nothing to do with Hamas."[37] Deploring the fact that Palestinians who have been expelled from their homeland can no longer return there, she also uses the term "apartheid" to describe Israel's oppression of the Palestinians.[38][7]

Israel-Hamas war

[edit]

From the beginning of the Israel–Hamas war, Hassan has been critical of the actions taken by Israel. She stated in an online interview following the Hamas attack that it was "morally unacceptable to rejoice in the deaths of civilians",[7][25] but refused the "political-media" injunction to "transform [this] natural empathy into support for the State of Israel."[7] She condemned equally "Hamas' war crimes", "Israel's impunity", and the "genocide" of the Palestinians.[4][11][a]

Controversies

[edit]

In August 2023, Forbes ranked Hassan among the "40 exceptional women who have marked the year and who have made France shine internationally".[41][38] In January 2024, this nomination was contested by Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France ("Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions"; CRIF) who accused her of "justifying the atrocities of 7 October" by Hamas[42][43][44] and by the television presenter Arthur who accused her of "apologizing for terrorism".[45][46] Following this controversy, Forbes canceled the awards ceremony.[47][44] In response, Hassan filed a complaint against Arthur for defamation.[48][46]

On 30 April 2024, Hassan was summoned by the police for apology for terrorism relating to comments she made on social media in the winter of 2023; she claimed on that occasion that she was "serene" but then denounced "the political pressures aimed at compromising [her] freedom of expression [at] a crucial political moment for the future of the French", referring to the European elections that year.[49]

In May 2024, Hassan faced controversy for a message she posted on X (formerly Twitter) accusing the CRIF of having dictated to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, a declaration concerning Israel.[46]

In July 2024, The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL proposed Hassan as vice-president of the Human Rights Subcommittee. The day after this proposal, fellow MEP François-Xavier Bellamy (The Republicans) used his connections to block her election to this position by accusing her of "antisemitism". In response, she published several messages on X targeting Bellamy.[50][51][b] Following these messages, Bellamy filed a complaint for "threats and incitement to commit a crime or offence against an elected official", believing that she had "named him for the vindictiveness of Islamist circles". The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, opened an investigation following Bellamy's complaint, suspecting Hassan of having breached the institution's code of conduct.[50][51] In response, Hassan also filed a complaint against Bellamy for "public defamation and slanderous denunciation".[50]

On 22 August 2024, deputies from the presidential Renaissance party announced their intention to appeal to the public prosecutor to have Hassan's parliamentary immunity lifted for having participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Amman, Jordan. They accused her of being "pro-Hamas": placards held during the demonstration paid tribute to the Hamas leader who was recently assassinated in Tehran.[52][53] Hassan denied the accusations by describing this demonstration, which takes place every Friday, as a recurring demonstration in support of the Palestinians and which is not pro-Hamas.[52] They also accused her of fuelling "antisemitism", which she also denied. She stated that those who accuse her are "known for their position of supporting a genocidal regime that [she is] fighting and that [she] will continue to fight with or without a mandate as an MEP."[53]

Cyberbullying

[edit]

Amid the events of 2023 and 2024, Hassan became the target of a harassment campaign by a pro-Israel group of about thirty members. Her phone number was reportedly doxxed via Telegram, leading to an onslaught of death and rape threats directed at her.[54] She was also sent imagery of Palestinians being brutalized.[55]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ It is often claimed that she said that Hamas actions were justified, in fact she was asked to answer "true" or "false" to several statements. In that interview, she answers "true" to the question "Is Hamas carrying out a legitimate action?" and "false" to the question "Does the State of Israel have a right of defence?" Hassan asked for the interview to be broadcast in full "so that she could share her thoughts and refute the attacks made against her. According to the media's editor-in-chief, the edited teaser was "out of context" and produced without their agreement. Throughout the interview, Hassan describes the actions of Hamas as "terrorist" and deems "legitimate" only the group's political wing, the winner of the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, denouncing as "illegitimate" its attack on October 7 and any other crimes. Furthermore, she recalls that in the United Nations General Assembly resolution of 30 November 1973, the General Assembly reaffirmed "the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity and liberation from colonial and alien domination and foreign control by all means in their power, including armed struggle."[39][40]
  2. ^ "For the moment, François-Xavier Bellamy and his cronies, close to the Israeli genocidal regime, sleep well at night. It won't last." and "The cowardice that drives you here is the same as that which is in your empty and evasive gaze when I pass you in the corridors of the European Parliament. Tremble. This is only the beginning."[50][51]

References

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  1. ^ CUAU, Olivier (9 June 2024). "La Franco-palestinienne Rima Hassan (LFI), qui a grandi à Niort, va entrer au Parlement européen". Courrier de l'Ouest (in French). Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  2. ^ Checknews, Service; Lacroix, Jade. "Origines, formation, relations avec la Syrie : que valent les accusations contre Rima Hassan publiées dans une «vidéo choc» relayée par Tapiro ?". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 9 May 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i à 11h15, Par Emmanuelle Vibert Le 28 mai 2022 (28 May 2022). "Rima Hassan, à l'origine de l'Observatoire des camps de réfugiés, se veut la voix des "indésirables"". leparisien.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b c d Gendron, Guillaume. "Rima Hassan, la Palestine à cœur et à cris". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b "" Être réfugiée palestinienne, c'est vivre en quête de son identité "". Association France Palestine Solidarité (in French). Archived from the original on 22 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  6. ^ "C'est l'histoire de Malak, héritière syrienne tombée amoureuse d'un charismatique Palestinien". Le Nouvel Obs (in French). 5 January 2024. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Rima Hassan, la Palestine chevillée au cœur". Le Monde.fr (in French). 14 January 2024. Archived from the original on 1 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d "Rima Hassan : "L'intégration ne se dicte pas, elle se vit"". La Nouvelle République. 27 November 2021. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024..
  9. ^ l’AFP, LE COURRIER DE L’OUEST avec (18 March 2024). "La très controversée Rima Hassan a suivi sa scolarité en Deux-Sèvres". Courrier de l'Ouest (in French). Archived from the original on 18 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  10. ^ a b c Centre Presse (Vienne), saturday 27 November 2021, p. 46, Bio express
  11. ^ a b Poinssot, Amélie (29 October 2023). "Rima Hassan, réfugiée palestinienne : " Nous subissons une punition collective "". Mediapart (in French). Archived from the original on 8 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  12. ^ a b ""Israël-Palestine : Etat des lieux" : un colloque organisé au Sénat - 100% Sénat". Public Sénat (in French). 7 May 2024. Archived from the original on 11 May 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  13. ^ "En sol majeur - Rima Hassan Mobarak, au service des Réfugiés". RFI (in French). 29 October 2022. Archived from the original on 23 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  14. ^ AFP (29 November 2019). "Rima Hassan, visage et contre-pouvoir des camps de réfugiés". Challenges (in French). Archived from the original on 20 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Rima Hassan : la voix des camps de réfugiés". À Priori(s) (in French). Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Journée mondiale des Réfugiés : on se mobilise en ligne (et en musique)". www.journaldesfemmes.fr (in French). 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 4 October 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  17. ^ AFP (30 April 2024). "Rima Hassan, la "petite dernière de la famille" insoumise, sur le devant de la scène". Challenges (in French). Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  18. ^ Legay, Luc (8 March 2022). "#Dansmavie avec Rima Hassan ⋆ Diair". Diair (in French). Archived from the original on 1 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  19. ^ "[Comme si vous y étiez] Le Tribunal des Générations Futures et le Laboratoire de la fraternité interrogent la devise républicaine | Carenews INFO". www.carenews.com (in French). Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  20. ^ "Israël-Palestine au palais du Luxembourg". www.lhistoire.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  21. ^ "Colloque Israël-Palestine : État des lieux – Vendredi 3 février 2023 – Palais du Luxembourg" (in French). Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  22. ^ "Rima Hassan : les ambiguïtés d'une "Greta Thunberg" de la cause palestinienne". L'Express (in French). 29 January 2024. Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  23. ^ AFP, avec (31 July 2023). "Les Journées d'été des écologistes se dérouleront au Havre dès le 24 août, le rappeur Médine invité". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  24. ^ "Elections européennes 2024 : La France insoumise dévoile sa liste, la militante propalestinienne Rima Hassan en septième position". Franceinfo (in French). 6 March 2024. Archived from the original on 23 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Rima Hassan, le choix de l'insoumission". Le Monde.fr (in French). 16 March 2024. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  26. ^ a b c Maurer, Pierre (18 March 2024). "Européennes : avec Rima Hassan, LFI place la Palestine au cœur de sa campagne". leparisien.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  27. ^ Pol, Chez. "Européennes : les Ecologistes ont tenté de débaucher Rima Hassan". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  28. ^ "Rima Hassan - X (Twitter)". x.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  29. ^ "Élections européennes : 5 choses à savoir sur Rima Hassan, la voix palestinienne de LFI". TF1 INFO (in French). 9 March 2024. Archived from the original on 1 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  30. ^ AFP, dispatch of Wednesday 6 May 2020, Le coronavirus "ajoute du chaos au chaos", déplore l'Observatoire des camps de réfugiés. (in French)
  31. ^ PAC, Le collectif Agros pour une autre. "Maires de France, il est urgent d'accueillir les migrants du camp de Moria". Libération (in French). Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  32. ^ "Rima Hassan, candidate LFI aux européennes, convoquée par la police pour apologie du terrorisme" (in French). 19 April 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  33. ^ "Le conflit israélo-palestinien, nouveau clivage entre deux gauches irréconciliables". La Croix (in French). 17 April 2024. ISSN 0242-6056. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  34. ^ a b c Saint-André, Elsa de La Roche. "Quelle est l'origine du slogan polémique «From the river to the sea» utilisé par les soutiens de la Palestine ?". Libération (in French). Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  35. ^ "Israël-Palestine : « La solution, c'est un État binational démocratique et laïc », estime Rima Hassan". L'Humanité (in French). 6 November 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  36. ^ "Rima Hassan, la voix de Gaza sur la liste LFI aux européennes". Le Nouvel Obs (in French). 8 April 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  37. ^ "Rima Hassan : les ambiguïtés d'une "Greta Thunberg" de la cause palestinienne". L'Express (in French). 29 January 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  38. ^ a b "Rima Hassan, juriste, dénonce «cet élan qui consiste à nuire aux paroles palestiniennes»". RFI (in French). 24 February 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  39. ^ ""ACTION LÉGITIME" DU HAMAS : AUTOPSIE DE LA POLÉMIQUE RIMA HASSAN". www.arretsurimages.net. 13 March 2024. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  40. ^ à 19h08, Par P. R. Le 3 février 2024; À 17h52, Modifié Le 5 Février 2024 (3 February 2024). "Forbes : la cérémonie des « 40 femmes de l'année » annulée à cause de la présence de la militante Rima Hassan". leparisien.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 9 May 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  41. ^ Forbes (22 August 2023). "CLASSEMENT | 40 FEMMES FORBES | Rima Hassan". Forbes France (in French). Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  42. ^ "Qui est Rima Hassan, la candidate LFI accusée d'être pro-Hamas ?". www.20minutes.fr (in French). 8 March 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  43. ^ Mathoux, Hadrien (6 March 2024). "Rima Hassan, activiste pro-Palestine au profil polémique, intègre la liste LFI aux européennes". www.marianne.net (in French). Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  44. ^ a b Ouest-France (5 February 2024). "La cérémonie Forbes en l'honneur des « 40 femmes de l'année » annulée après une polémique". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  45. ^ "Violente passe d'armes entre Arthur et la militante franco-palestinienne Rima Hassan". TV Magazine (in French). 30 January 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  46. ^ a b c "Guerre Israël-Hamas : Rima Hassan accuse Stéphane Séjourné d'être influencé par le Crif". Le Figaro (in French). 23 May 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  47. ^ "Forbes : la cérémonie des « 40 femmes de l'année » annulée à cause de la présence de la militante Rima Hassan". leparisien.fr (in French). 3 February 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  48. ^ "Rima Hassan, qualifiée d'antisémite par Arthur, va déposer plainte pour diffamation". leparisien.fr (in French). 31 January 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  49. ^ "Rima Hassan, candidate LFI aux européennes, convoquée par la police pour apologie du terrorisme" (in French). 19 April 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  50. ^ a b c d "Au Parlement européen, Rima Hassan porte plainte à son tour contre François-Xavier Bellamy" (in French). 28 July 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  51. ^ a b c "François-Xavier Bellamy dépose plainte contre Rima Hassan pour "des menaces", après un tweet de l'eurodéputée LFI". Franceinfo (in French). 25 July 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  52. ^ a b "On vous explique la (nouvelle) polémique qui vise Rima Hassan, accusée d'avoir soutenu le Hamas lors d'un rassemblement en Jordanie". Franceinfo (in French). 21 August 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  53. ^ a b "Rima Hassan : pourquoi des élus Renaissance veulent lever son immunité parlementaire". L'Express (in French). 22 August 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  54. ^ Gicquel, Jérôme (29 May 2024). "Réseaux sociaux : Que risque-t-on à balancer, comme Rima Hassan, le 06 de son cyberharceleur ?". 20 Minutes (in French). Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  55. ^ Miadi, Fadwa (23 April 2024). "Rima Hassan : « Je suis habitée par la Palestine »" [Rima Hassan: "I am inhabited by Palestine"]. Le Courier de l'Atlas (in French).
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