Less than a month before the European elections, candidate Rima Hassan is arousing passion in France. An LFI candidate, she has Palestinian origins and is campaigning focusing on the war in Gaza. She was in Tunis this Saturday, May 11, where she spoke as part of the Maghreb Social Forum alongside Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, and Michèle Sibony, spokesperson for the French Jewish Union for the peace.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Tunis, Amira Souilem
In Tunisia, a country where the defense of the Palestinian cause does not suffer any criticism, Rima Hassan is on conquered ground. Amid applause, it’s the one everyone here was waiting for: “ thank you very much for your welcome », Declares the LFI candidate upon her arrival.
As the war in Gaza entered its eighth month, she put her campaign for the European elections on hold for an activist weekend in Tunis: “ This is consistent with what South Africa has done before the International Court of Justice. That is to say the referral by the global South of international law to this question and also to resituate itself in its role. I often say that I have one foot in the East and one in the West, and therefore being there and also being a candidate for the European Parliament, it is part of this journey of bridging between these two worlds which must move forward for the respect of law international. »
Positions that earned him criticism and threats in France
Rima Hassan is among those who use the term “genocide” to describe the situation in Gaza. Recently, she also declared that Israel was “ worse than Russia “. So many positions which earned him criticism and threats in France. Nothing to see in Tunisia, because as soon as her speech was over, dozens of people rushed to congratulate her and take selfies.
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To the question of what it brings to the candidate to be there, in a room and in a country totally committed to her cause? “ of appeasement, replies the LFI candidate. That is to say that there are times when we need to have spaces where we can express our words, where we are understood. And it is extremely valuable. »
After this Tunisian parenthesis, Rima Hassan will return to France where she is in the campaign and where she has been summoned by the police also, for “apology of terrorism”, following comments linked to the massacres of October 7 in Israel.
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