PARIS — French Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan wants to turn a trial over accusations that she glorified a terrorist attack into a platform to showcase what she says is an attempt to silence pro-Palestinian voices.
Hassan, a vocal pro-Palestinian lawmaker in Brussels, will appear in court Tuesday for sharing a quote attributed to Kōzō Okamoto, a Japanese militant who was responsible for killing 26 people at an Israeli airport in 1972.
“This is a political case,” Hassan said in an interview with POLITICO ahead of her court date. “It’s a way of putting the Palestinian cause on trial.”
On March 26, Hassan, a member of The Left group in the European Parliament, shared a post on X from a pro-Palestinian account and highlighted a quote attributed to Okamoto, a former member of the now-defunct Japanese Red Army, a communist group.
The quote stated, “As long as there is oppression, resistance will not only be a right, but a duty.”
For the prosecution, this amounted to an “apology for terrorism,” a crime under French law that includes expressing support for or justifying terror attacks.
But Hassan sees it as a continuation of the frequent attacks she has faced over her pro-Palestinian activism since stepping into the political fray in 2024.
“My main goal was to share a thread with a quote that discusses the philosophy of resistance,” she said. “I cannot be accused of glorifying crimes in any way simply for sharing this quote.”
Over the past two years, Hassan — a member of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s hard-left France Unbowed movement — has become one of the most talked-about politicians in France. Her harshest critics frame her as an advocate of the Hamas militant group, but Hassan’s supporters laud her for what they see as her uncompromising defense of Palestinian rights. In 2025, the Israeli interior minister banned Hassan from entering the country, saying she had “consistently worked to promote boycotts against Israel and made numerous public statements and social media posts.”
Some 16 legal complaints or reports have been lodged against her over remarks about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. One has resulted in this trial, two are still pending and 13 did not lead to charges.
Born stateless in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Hassan has devoted most of her political work to the cause. Her most-criticized stance is that armed action carried out by groups such as Hamas, which the EU classifies as a terrorist organization, can be legitimate in the context of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
“Regarding the struggle for independence and the self-determination of peoples, [Palestinians] have a right to have political figures and activists who engage with these issues … I believe I am being treated precisely as a political opponent on this basis,” she said.
Immunity bypassed
The controversy surrounding Hassan’s trial is not only about substance but also about how the proceedings have unfolded. As an MEP, she is protected by parliamentary immunity, which shields her from arrest unless she is caught committing a crime. Prosecutors have argued that was the case, since the post on X was reported shortly after it was published, which is why police held her in April before being sent to trial.
Hassan said several colleagues, including some from other political groups, had voiced support and had said they believed her immunity had been flagrantly breached. She also said she had met with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who expressed support. Metsola’s office did not respond to POLITICO’s request to confirm the meeting.
With France’s presidential election coming next year, Hassan’s party, France Unbowed, and its candidate, Mélenchon, will again make the Palestinian cause a key campaigning point — a tactic that other parties have roundly criticized. Hassan, who has garnered a strong following, is expected to play an important role in the campaign.
“We’ve already won the battle of public opinion,” Hassan said.
Hassan secured 210 signatures for an op-ed in her favor. The list includes political allies at home and abroad — such as British MP Zarah Sultana and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis — as well as the frontman of U.K. band Massive Attack, Robert Del Naja, and Cannes Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker Xavier Dolan.
The op-ed said that Hassan’s “judicial, political, and media treatment … is one of the most significant manifestations” of an attempt to build “a system of deterrence in which everyone is encouraged … sometimes to choose silence over exercising their freedom of conscience.”
