“That such an incident is alleged to have taken place inside the European Parliament makes it all the more serious. We call on the Parliament to establish exactly what happened, make the relevant evidence public and, if the allegations are confirmed, take appropriate disciplinary action.
“The victims of October 7 and the hostages deserve dignity and respect. Their memory must never become a target for political provocation.”
The Israeli and EU flags lying on the ground in the European Parliament building in Brussels (Credit: European Jewish Congress/X)[Missing Credit]
Hassan, 34, is a French-Palestinian lawyer and activist who was born in the Neirab Palestinian refugee camp near Aleppo, Syria, and moved to France with her family as a child.
She was elected to the European Parliament in 2024 as a member of France’s La France Insoumise party and sits with the Left group.
In February last year, Israel denied Hassan entry into the country, citing her support of boycott campaign against the country, and four months later she joined Greta Thunberg on the “Freedom Flotilla” to Gaza. Her vessel was intercepted by Israeli authorities and Hassan was detained before being deported.
The alleged vandalism, which took place on Monday evening, also prompted strong condemnation on Tuesday from other European Parliament members, including from President Roberta Metsola who said the body was taking it “extremely seriously”.
Addressing members of the elected legislative body, she said: “This house is a place where all of us must feel safe and secure, and we reject, in the strongest possible terms, any action by any person that feels or makes anyone feel less protected here.
“We cannot have actions like this,” she said to applause.
“We cannot have actions that could make people fearful of speaking. We cannot have damage to property, and we cannot have attempts to intimidate rather than to debate. So at a time of rising global antisemitism, we owe it to Europe’s Jewish community to ensure that when they look to us, they see that this is their House too.
“So tomorrow we will mark another anniversary since that black October 7, three years ago. And on your behalf, I will speak at the event, and we will remember the victims with the dignity that they deserve.”
MEP François-Xavier Bellamy, also speaking in front of Parliament members, said: “Outside this Chamber, in our Parliament just now, an event was being held to commemorate October 7, the single greatest antisemitic massacre of our century, carried out by Islamist terrorists. During this event, REM Rima Hassan turned the European flag and the Israeli flag upside down.
“Fellow members, whatever our views on the situation in the Middle East, overturning the European flag within the European Parliament is clearly an act of disgrace. Upsetting the Israeli flag during a commemoration of October 7 amounts to complicity with those who, including in Europe, seek to reintroduce the antisemitic hatred that marked the darkest hours of our continent’s history.
“We call on the Parliament’s presidency to take immediate action against this scandalous behaviour.”
Hassan reportedly confirmed that she removed the Israeli flag from its stand, but said the EU flag had inadvertently fallen over due to a loss of balance. She added that neither was damaged and that she had written to Metsola to set out her version of events.
“I did not touch the European flag,” she also told the chamber.
Hassan has been approached for comment.
