![Rima Hassan, 32, hopes to win at this week's European Parliament elections [Courtesy of Claire Jacquin]](/Uploads/Images/News/2024/6/Image-2461-20240604073928.jpeg)
‘Palestine is a European issue’: European Parliament candidate Rima Hassan
Hassan, a 32-year-old French-Palestinian lawyer, says she has faced death threats and police investigations due to her support of Gaza.
French-Palestinian activist and jurist Rima Hassan, a leftist candidate in the upcoming European Parliament elections, has been the subject of political and media scrutiny in France as Israel’s war on Gaza continues to rage.
Born stateless in April 1992 in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Hassan arrived in France with her family when she was nine. She obtained French nationality at 18 and pursued a master’s degree in international law, writing her thesis on apartheid in South Africa and Israel; groups such as Amnesty International and experts have long accused Israel of committing apartheid.
Hassan founded the Observatory of Refugee Camps in 2019 and the Action Palestine France collective after October 7, when Palestinian group Hamas led an incursion into southern Israel, which sharply escalated the historic conflict.
After 1,139 people were killed and more than 200 taken captive in early October, Israeli bombing has killed more than 36,400 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave governed by Hamas.
Now a candidate for the left-wing La France insoumise (LFI), or France Unbowed party, in the upcoming European Parliament elections, Hassan has faced criticism for her party’s stance on the conflict in Gaza.
LFI has called for a ceasefire and condemned both Israel and Hamas. But after October 7, Mathilde Panot, president of the left-wing party, cast the Hamas assault as an “armed offensive by Palestinian forces” – a comment which saw her summoned by police for allegedly inciting “terrorism”. Hassan herself was asked to explain her use of a Palestinian slogan, “From the river to the sea“; ultimately no charges were brought.
Al Jazeera interviewed Hassan about France and the wider European community’s response to the war in Gaza, her personal experience as a Palestinian politician in France, and the upcoming European Parliament elections.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.