The European Parliament is investigating the removal of the Israeli flag from an exhibition commemorating October 7

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Mizzola, announced on Tuesday that she takes seriously the accusation of Rima Hassan, the French MP of Palestinian origin from the radical leftist “France Proud” party, of “removing the Israeli and European flags during an exhibition dedicated to commemorating the victims of the October 7 attacks.”

Hassan's team confirmed that the representative removed the Israeli flag, but the fall of the European Union flag was not intentional.

Metsola said during a plenary session at Parliament headquarters in the French city of Strasbourg: “A member of this association was apparently photographed vandalizing an exhibition” inside Parliament “that commemorates the victims of the terrorist attack that was carried out in Israel” on October 7, 2023.

She added: “We are treating this case with the utmost seriousness, and all appropriate procedures stipulated in our regulations are in place, including respecting the right of the person concerned to have his or her statements heard.”

On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attacked Rima Hassan, after accusing her of removing the Israeli and European flags.

Saar wrote on his account on the

Hassan's team confirmed that the European Representative provided her clarifications of what happened.

According to Agence France-Presse, the team explained that while leaving the exhibition, “Rima Hassan took off the Israeli flag... and the European Union flag was attached to the same base, so it fell unintentionally as a result of an imbalance. Neither flag was trampled on or damaged.”

The team believed that the action came “in the context of denouncing the genocide that the Israeli government is still committing,” in reference to the war in the Gaza Strip, stressing that “it was in no way targeting the people who were intended to be honored through this event or their memory.”

Hassan reiterated her position during a parliament session on Tuesday. She said, "It is entirely possible to commemorate the victims of October 7 without being associated with the Israeli state, which is committing genocide."

Who is Rima Hassan?

The French lawyer of Palestinian origin, Rima Hassan (34 years old), who was born in Syria, won a seat in the European Parliament, for the leftist “France Proud” party.

Rima Hassan aroused interest because of her position on the war in Gaza, and she was the focus of debates in French political and media circles, because of her description of the Israeli military actions in Gaza as “genocide.”

The lawyer gave press interviews in which she supported the opinion that Hamas is "carrying out legitimate work."

After being criticized for this position, Rima Hassan indicated that she also said that the movement is a “terrorist group.”

These statements put her in the crosshairs of criticism, amid the division in France and Europe over the position on the Gaza war and the October 7 attack.

In 2019, Rima Hassan founded the “Refugee Camps Observatory,” and the French edition of Forbes magazine chose her in 2023 to be on the list of “40 Distinguished Women.”

But the magazine canceled a party for the honorees, which it intended to hold at the end of last March in Paris, and a spokeswoman for the French edition said that “conditions are no longer suitable for holding the evening as planned.”

Yonatan Arfi, head of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, said that Rima Hassan "follows the agenda of Hamas fundamentalists and justifies the violations of October 7th."

The famous French broadcaster and TV presenter, Arthur, accused Rima Hassan of supporting “terrorism” and “anti-Semitism” due to her positions.

In turn, Hassan responded with a lawsuit against the broadcaster, accusing him of defamation.

Representative Benjamin Haddad from President Macron's Ennahda bloc also attacked her, accusing her of calling for the "destruction of Israel."

The judicial police summoned Rima Hassan on April 23 for investigation on the grounds of “glorifying terrorism.”

Rima Hassan was born in 1992 in Syria in Al-Nairab camp, which is the largest official refugee camp in Syria and the most populous, located 13 kilometers east of the city of Aleppo.

She was one of the Palestinian refugees who did not have identification papers, as her father’s family came from the village of Al-Birwa, east of Akka, and settled in Syria after being displaced in 1948.

She left Syria for France with her mother and five brothers and sisters when she turned ten, and obtained French citizenship when she turned 18.