LFI MP Danièle Obono is embroiled in controversy for comments she made about the Islamist group Hamas. The Minister of the Interior announced that he would refer the matter to the public prosecutor for “apology of terrorism”.
Rebellious France once again gets its feet tangled in the carpet when it comes to qualifying Hamas. After Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s refusal to consider the Palestinian Islamist group as a “terrorist group” – a qualification recognized by the European Union and therefore France – it is MP Danièle Obono who is singled out. Everything starts from a party press release evoking the “Palestinian forces” to talk about Hamas and accused of putting the Islamist group and Israel back to back. Invited to clarify her position on the subject at the microphone of Sud Radio, the Paris MP gave a response, a controversial sentence of which was retained and highlighted in the media.
Without going through any hassle, journalist Jean-Jacques Bourdin questions Danièle Obono about his party’s refusal to qualify Hamas as a terrorist group. In a first attempt that is often interrupted, the elected official responds that Hamas is “an Islamist political group, which has an armed wing, which is part of Palestinian political groups, which aims to liberate Palestine and which resists an occupation.”
“Is Hamas a resistance movement?” the journalist then retorts, not without insistence. This is where the MP’s words slip: “Yes, who defines themselves as such and who is recognized as such by international bodies”. The sentence highlighted by the media is enough to reignite the controversy.
Faced with the controversy growing on the networks, the Parisian MP issued a press release published on X (former Twitter) to clarify her position, and that of her party. Danièle Obono explains having said “that Hamas is an Islamist political group which declares its action to be part of the resistance to the occupation of Palestine” clearing itself of having assimilated the terrorist group to a resistance movement.
Further clarifying her position and recalling that she does not support Hamas, Danièle Obono added: “It is a fact. Neither an excuse, nor support, nor a guarantee for its abject war crimes against Israeli civilians.”
However, Danièle Obono’s explanation does not seem to be enough to calm the controversy which has reached the government and the Minister of the Interior. Gérald Darmanin also had an imminent reaction to condemn the comments of Danièle Obono reported in the media. The minister recalled the terrorist nature of Hamas and announced that he would refer the matter to the public prosecutor for “apology of terrorism”.
