A French member of the European Parliament, Rima Hassan, has been charged in Paris with glorifying terrorism online. The charges, announced Thursday by the Paris prosecutor’s office, relate to a social media post where Hassan quoted an individual involved in a 1972 attack in Israel. Hassan, 33, a prominent advocate for Palestinian rights, is scheduled to face trial in July.

The accusation stems from a March 26 post on Hassan's X account. In the message, which has since been deleted, she quoted Kozo Okamoto, a member of the Japanese Red Army implicated in the 1972 killing of 26 people at Lod Airport in Israel. The quoted statement attributed to Okamoto read: “I dedicated my youth to the Palestinian cause. As long as there is oppression, resistance will not only be a right, but a duty.” If convicted, Hassan could face a sentence of up to seven years in prison and a fine of 100,000 euros, approximately $115,000.

Hassan, a member of the far-left France Unbowed party, made Palestinian rights a central theme of her successful campaign for the European Parliament in 2024, amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The charges have elicited varied reactions. Critics of Hassan expressed approval, while her supporters and allies contend that the judicial system is being inappropriately used against her. Manuel Bompard, national coordinator for France Unbowed, characterized the situation on French television as a "judicial and political witch hunt" aimed at silencing Hassan's "committed voice denouncing the genocide in Gaza."

However, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez rejected such claims, stating on television that the action was "not political justice" and emphasizing that "No one is above the law, especially on subjects as serious as the glorification of terrorism." The prosecutor’s office also noted that Hassan is currently subject to investigation in six additional cases. Sixteen other cases involving allegations of online hate speech against her have previously been closed.

Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Hassan arrived in France as a child with her family. She later earned a master’s degree in international law and worked as a legal rapporteur at France’s National Court of Asylum. In 2019, she founded the Observatory of Refugee Camps, a non-profit documenting conditions in such facilities. Her recent activism includes an attempt to deliver aid to Gaza by boat last year with other activists, including Greta Thunberg, an endeavor that was intercepted by Israeli forces. Separately, police are conducting an investigation into substances found among her belongings, described by prosecutors as "resembling CBD and 3-MMC," a synthetic stimulant. Hassan has stated publicly that both products were legally purchased CBD for medicinal use.