Rima Hassan criticizes François-Xavier Bellamy for his “inculture” on the Israeli-Palestinian question

François-Xavier Bellamy and Rima Hassan have scores to settle. Last July, MEP LR announced his intention to file a complaint against his opponent LFI for “death threats“. On Tuesday, October 8, the legal battle took a more rhetorical turn, within the walls of the European Parliament. Rima Hassan accused her opponent of“inculture” on the Israeli-Palestinian question, considering that it “prevented progress on this issue”. Originally a question “very simple” by François-Xavier Bellamy: “Do you recognize Israel’s right to defend itself and to guarantee, in accordance with international law, the security of its citizens?”

The pro-Palestinian activist evaded the question, preferring to remind her opponent that “this conflict did not start with the attacks of Hamas and Hezbollah (but) in 1948”. “The question is to know in which temporal dimension you are located”she added, before addressing the European Parliament as a whole: “It is precisely because you have abandoned the Israelis and Palestinians here since the Oslo Accords that we are in this chaos today”. And to conclude: “The question is the sharing of responsibilities between all the players in the region. But they must be placed in a historical context which dates from 1948”.

Deep-rooted differences

At the end of July, the two political opponents had already had disagreements over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “For the moment François-Xavier Bellamy and his little friends, close to the genocidal Israeli regime, sleep well at night. It’s not going to last.”had threatened Rima Hassan on the social network Figaro his intention to file a complaint for “death threats” et “incitement to commit a crime against an elected official”. The LFI MEP had filed a complaint in return for “public defamation and slanderous denunciation”.

It all started when the group «The Left» had proposed Rima Hassan for the third vice-president of the Human Rights Committee. The EPP, François-Xavier Bellamy’s party, opposed this election. “It poses a real problem that Ms. Hassan, who legitimized Hamas in the aftermath of October 7 and who described the State of Israel as a “monstrosity,” represents the voice of human rights in the European Parliament.”had scathed the right-wing MEP at Figaro. The person concerned sent him a vitriolic response on the social networkcowardice“. She even reproached him for “empty and shifty gaze in the corridors of the European Parliament“. Before being more threatening: “Tremble. This is just the beginning».