This article first appeared in New English Review.
Here in the United States, most of us have been shocked and
disgusted that people like Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) could be
elected to Congress. In France, they seemingly have their own version of these
two characters. The French political party, La France Insoumise, is
arguably even further to the left than our own Democratic Party. La France
Insoumise is led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, a leftist whom many consider an
anti-Semite, and a man who aspires to be president of France someday in the near
future.
But the woman who is really causing a stir in France at the
moment is a French-Palestinian by the name of Rima Hassan (33). She represents
her party in the European Parliament. She now stands criminally charged with justifying
terrorism. In recent days, she posted a quotation by Kozo Okamoto, the lone surviving
Japanese terrorist who participated in a terrorist attack in 1972 at Tel Aviv’s
Lod Airport that killed 26 people, including 17 Americans.
Back in February, Hassan, who is a vociferous opponent of
Israel, was appearing at a political event in Lyon. Outside, a group of
conservative feminists was protesting against her. A young man who was acting
as security for the protesters was viciously attacked and beaten to death by 6
people, subsequently identified as members of La Jeune Garde (The Young
Guard), an Antifa-like group closely tied to La France Insoumise. In
fact, two of those charged have been identified as Parliamentary assistants of
a La France Insoumise Parliamentarian from Lyon, Raphael Arnault.
How did we get to the point that in countries like the US
and France, we have elected officials in the Congress, European Parliament, and
French National Assembly, respectively, who more or less openly stand on the
side of terrorists like Hamas? Of course, the easy answer is to point to where
they came from and who their constituents are. IlahnO Mar, originally from
Somalia, represents a district in Minneapolis, often referred to as “Little
Mogadishu”. While I don’t want to defame all Somali immigrants (one of my
heroes is Ayaan Hirsi Ali), it goes without saying that this community is
controversial, to put it mildly. Tlaib, who was born in the US of Palestinian
background, represents districts in and around Dearborn, Michigan, often called
“Dearbornistan”. Again, not to paint all Muslims in Dearborn as being bad
actors, but the area has had its share of radical activity and hate speech
emanating from some of its mosques.
Hassan was born in Syria and immigrated to France at the age
of 9. She went on to achieve higher education and became active in working with
Palestinian refugees. She was elected to the European Parliament in July 2024
as a member of La France Insoumise. She enjoys the unqualified support
of Mélenchon. Both he and his party have expressed outrage at her arrest.
Of course, in the US, Hassan would not be facing charges for
her post regarding Okamoto. We have the First Amendment protecting free speech,
even hateful speech. France and the rest of Europe have stronger restrictions
on speech than we do. Speech that is deemed hateful toward other groups of
people can be prosecuted, and people can lose their money, their jobs, and even
their freedom if what they say or write is considered hate speech. I come down
on the side of free speech, which I am free to condemn and respond to. At the
same time, I consider people like Hassan to be contemptible.
Perhaps, the larger lesson is that if democratic countries
can elect people like Omar, Tlaib, and Hassan to public office, our democracies
are more fragile than we ever imagined.
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