EU Parliament Member Under Scrutiny for Removing Israeli Flag

A controversy erupted in the European Parliament after French Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan was filmed removing Israeli and European Union flags from an exhibition commemorating the October 7th attacks. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola stated she views the accusations against Hassan with "great seriousness" and that appropriate disciplinary measures are being considered, while respecting Hassan's right to be heard. Hassan's office confirmed she removed the Israeli flag, but denied trampling it, claiming the EU flag fell accidentally due to instability. They stated the act was a "condemnation of the ongoing genocide by the Israeli government" but not directed at the victims or their memory.

Conversely, French MEP François-Xavier Bellamy alleged Hassan "knocked down the flags of Europe and Israel," calling it a form of "complicity with those who seek to re-import antisemitic hatred." He shared a photo of the flags on the floor, though footage of Hassan removing them has not been publicly released. Nathalie Loiseau, another MEP, sharply criticized Hassan, stating she was "trampling the Israeli flag" days before the anniversary of the October 7th attacks.

Hassan, a French-Palestinian lawyer, has been a vocal critic of Israel, accusing it of "apartheid" and "genocide." She has previously supported boycotts against Israel and was denied entry to Israel in February 2025 after participating in a flotilla to Gaza. She was also deported from Israel in June and October of the same year after participating in Gaza flotillas. In France, she was arrested on suspicion of supporting terrorism for a tweet quoting a perpetrator of the 1972 Lod Airport massacre, and later faced a complaint for comparing French-Israelis serving in the IDF to French-Palestinians joining "armed Palestinian resistance."