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Paris- French thinker and expert on political Islam, François Bourga, sparked a torrent of criticism on social media platforms and the French media, after he republished a press release for the movement. agitation Via the “X” platform.
Burga, 75 years old, wrote on his official account, “I have more respect and appreciation for the leaders of Hamas than the leaders of the State of Israel. I do not think I am the only one who believes that, quite the opposite.”
The statements of the retired researcher from the National Center for Scientific Research have always sparked controversy, especially after an operation Al-Aqsa flood On October 7, 2023.
Since France and the European Union countries include the Hamas movement on the list of terrorist organizations, many considered Borga’s tweet a “glorification of terrorism,” calling for sanctions to be imposed on him.
Stormy campaign
Since the outbreak of the conflict between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel, there has been no talk of the rights of the Palestinian people or expressions of support. For the Gaza Strip It is an undesirable matter, and under the microscope of the French authorities.
This may be among the main reasons that led to the formation of a huge amount of hostile opinions towards what was stated by French thinker François Bourga after he conveyed a Hamas press statement.
Representative and spokesman for the National Rally, Laurent Jacobli, wrote in his account on the “X” platform, “Supporting Hamas and the crime of anti-Semitism does not fall under the name of freedom of opinion, analysis, or scientific research, but rather is a call for murder and hatred.”
While the leader of the Socialist Party, Eric Ciotti, asked in a tweet, “How can France finance the work of an activist that calls for terrorism and is linked to Islamic figures?… François Borga’s words are unbearable and distort the memory of the forty Frenchmen who were killed by Hamas.”
A mirror of the French position
When speaking with the person concerned with these accusations, Al Jazeera Net did not notice that Borga was surprised or shocked by the campaign launched against him, recalling a story that happened to him during his participation in a forum on political Islam in Doha.
He said, “I am currently retired, but I used to work in the past at the National Center within the framework of the French Foreign Ministry. The French ambassador called me at the time, saying that among the participants in the forum was a figure from the Hamas movement, and we must inform you that, as a French citizen, you do not have the right to greet this person.” “.
Borga confirmed in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that today he is “a free French intellectual who does not belong to the government or any particular administration,” considering that France’s position on the Hamas movement is evidence of the French government’s surrender to American and Israeli policy.
Borga pointed out that he was subjected to a stormy campaign against him, “not only on social media platforms, but 90% of the French media insulted me in the past days, even though I see my statement as very normal. This is a bad sign of the end of France’s freedom to evaluate its position in the Middle East.”
Because he respects Hamas… Liberation reveals French anger against researcher François Bourga https://t.co/OfPW572SI3 via @AJArabicnet
— Nicole Katie (@NicoleKati79209) January 8, 2024
Criminalizing resistance
When asked about the pressures he might be exposed to because of his tweet, the French academic stressed that he did not and will not delete his statement, denouncing the criminalization of the Hamas movement, which won the Palestinian legislative elections in 2006 under the supervision, organization and financing of European institutions.
He believed that the criminalization of the Palestinian resistance generation and France’s position did not begin after the seventh of last October, but rather much before that, explaining that “after Hamas’ victory in the elections was confirmed, the European Union cooperated with the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government to attack the leadership and arrest most of the representatives who “They won.”
In another example, Burga mentioned what French General Charles de Gaulle said – specifically at the beginning of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza – in 1967: “The oppression of the Palestinians will generate resistance reactions from them, and this will be called terrorism. We know that there is no objective and moral meaning to the word terrorism.”
In a related context, immediately after the events of September 11, 2001, General Sharon publicly stated, “You have Bin Laden and we have Yasser Arafat,” “which means that he placed Arafat in the category of Islamic terrorism, knowing that Hamas did not exist yet at that time,” according to the same spokesman. .
Borga added in his speech to Al Jazeera Net, “One of the reasons for my respect for the Hamas movement is my visit to the Gaza Strip many times, and my meeting with members of the movement in Doha, Gaza, and Amman. I am very proud to say that my respect for the leadership and activists of Hamas is much higher than it is for the generation of Israeli leaders today.”
French thinker »#François_Borga» connects the blatant bias of #Israel With the increasing strength of the far right in European countries, which wants to satisfy its anti-Islam and anti-Muslim obsessions.#Palestine #Gaza #Land _ invasion #Al-Aqsa Flood pic.twitter.com/ChXDfk8InZ
– Ahmed Suleiman Al Omari Ahmad Al Omari (@ahmadomariy) October 16, 2023
Charge of “glorifying terrorism”
It seems that the issue of criminalizing the resistance did not stop at the borders of the Gaza Strip or Palestine, but rather reached the point of accusing everyone who supports it of “glorifying and promoting terrorism” in the European Union.
In France, Justice Minister Dupond-Moretti asked prosecutors on October 10 “A firm and swift criminal response,” fearing that the waves of Hamas’ flood would reach its national territory, and that anti-Semitic acts would increase in the country.
Moretti said at the time that “anti-Semitism is not an opinion, it is a crime,” stressing that “advocating terrorism is a crime punishable by law with imprisonment for a period ranging between 5 and 7 years, when it benefits from a certain amount of propaganda.”
When French thinker Borga was asked about the voices that called on the government to impose sanctions on him, he replied that he believed the matter had reached this level of irrationality.
He explained, “Each of us has different positions and opinions, and this is normal. My position does not differ from the positions of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the Proud France Party, for example, even though I do not belong to this party.”
He added, “Which means that if the government insults or punishes me, then the same must be done toward all representatives of this party that belongs to the French political class, or even former French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin. Therefore, I rule out that the issue will reach this point.”
Finally, Borga pointed out that his statements were not an exception or stronger and different from what was said by a number of French representatives and politicians. They still constitute a voice singing outside the crowd in support of the rights of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
