France Surveillance Controversy

Rima Hassan Case Sparks Free Speech and Palestine Solidarity Debate

European Parliament member Rima Hassan delivers a speech at a demonstration in support of Palestine organised by several unions in Paris, France, on 14 June 2025. Photo credit: Aurélie Morissard

After Rima Hassan, a Member of the European Parliament for the left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed, LFI), was held in police custody over a Palestine solidarity tweet earlier this month, reports surfaced about the politician being surveilled by authorities since the beginning of the year. “Since 1 January 2026, the police have been tracking a political opponent, geolocating her phone, monitoring her movement day and night, her train tickets, her hotels, the cities, “sometimes even the streets” where she traveled,” warned LFI's media outlet L'Insoumission.

The surveillance of Hassan was accompanied by a smear campaign in mainstream media, where unfounded allegations were lodged against her for illegal drugs possession and more. Legal experts representing the MEP, as well as the party itself, warned against numerous infringements of her basic civil rights throughout this period, criticizing corporate media for circulating unconfirmed rumors and police authorities for delaying publication of information exonerating Rima Hassan from various allegations.

At the same time, French progressive groups continued to fight against European complicity in the genocide in Gaza and attempts to stifle Palestine solidarity voices in the country itself. Many saw the proceedings against Hassan as an illustration of what would happen to Palestine solidarity activists if the Yadan law was passed, equating criticism of Israel with anti-semitism, thus criminalizing it. Close to 700,000 people signed a petition to oppose the bill as part of a call backed by LFI, forcing its retreat just as it was scheduled to be discussed last week. Yet reports warn this does not mark a complete victory, with plans to reintroduce a revised version into parliamentary discussion in a couple of months’ time.

Despite growing attempts to repress Palestine solidarity, the movement in France has not backed away. In the ongoing European Citizens’ Initiative Justice for Palestine, aiming to pressure the European Commission to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, over 420,000 statements of support were collected in France—760% of the country's threshold. The success of the initiative on national and EU levels came days before four of the bloc's member states—Spain, Slovenia, Ireland, and Belgium—along with tens of UN experts and dozens of civil society organizations, announced they would demand a partial or total suspension of the agreement during the Foreign Affairs Council on Tuesday.

“The EU cannot credibly claim to uphold human rights while sustaining preferential trade with a State whose conduct has been found by multiple international bodies as amounting to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes,” UN experts wrote, reinforcing demands for the EU to take action. “For two and a half years now, the EU has witnessed escalating atrocities against Palestinians without taking any effective measure to uphold international law.”