France is banning two Palestine solidarity groups
Paris (QNN)- France’s interior minister announced on Thursday that he is outlawing two Palestine solidarity organizations at the request of president Emmanuel Macron, accusing them of promoting “hatred of Israel.”
Gérald Darmanin tweeted on Thursday that “at the request” of President Emmanuel Macron, he would move to dissolve Palestine Vaincra (Palestine Will Win) and Comité Palestine Action (Palestine Action Committee).
A la demande du Président de la République, je vais demander la dissolution du collectif "Palestine Vaincra", et du "Comité Action Palestine", pour appel à la haine, à la violence et à la discrimination et provocation à des actes terroristes.https://t.co/lfrscsGkwQ
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) February 24, 2022
The interior minister included a link to a news report from Europe 1 with more details about his action.
“Under cover of supporting the Palestinian cause, the government accuses the groups of promoting hatred of Israel,” Europe 1stated.
Citing Darmanin, Europe 1 said that Palestine Vaincra is being banned for “calling for hatred, discrimination and violence.”
France is also accusing it of ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a political party and resistance organization that ‘Israel’ and France view as “terrorist.”
According to Europe 1, Darmanin accuses Palestine Vaincra of claiming that Muslim people around the world are oppressed by “imperialism and world Zionism” and for “spreading the idea of there being Islamophobia at a global level.”
Palestine Vaincra says that it “supports the Palestinian people’s struggle against Zionism, imperialism and Arab reactionary regimes for the liberation of all of Palestine, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.”
According to Europe 1, France is banning Comité Action Palestine for “relaying communiques from Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine and of Hizballah [in Lebanon] and for reporting on their actions.”
Comité Action Palestine describes itself as a group that “works for the realization of the national rights of the Palestinian people, in particular the right to self-determination and the right of return of refugees, that is to say the liberation of the Arab land of Palestine.”
Europe 1 noted that last year, the Macron administration banned two organization, CCIF, a group that combats discrimination against Muslims, and BarakaCity, a Muslim charity, accusing them of “separatism.”
However, this move is the first time the French government will dissolve organizations specifically focused on Palestine.
During Israel’s May aggression in Gaza, France banned a pro-Palestine rally and arrested Bertrand Heilbronn, the head of the activist group Association France-Palestine Solidarité, just after he had left a meeting in the foreign ministry in Paris.
❌ A la sortie d’un rendez-vous au Ministère des affaires étrangères, Bertrand Heilbronn, président de @AFPSOfficiel a été arrêté par la police pour avoir organisé le rassemblement pacifiste qui accompagnait la délégation reçue (avec 3 parlementaires dont je fais partie) pic.twitter.com/PmUb2cIjWr
— Elsa Faucillon (@ElsaFaucillon) May 12, 2021
The French interior minister’s decision to ban the two Palestine solidarity groups was announced on the day President Macron was due to address the annual gala of CRIF, France’s main Israel lobby and Jewish communal group.
But with the unfolding crisis in Ukraine, Macron decided to send his prime minister instead.
Le traditionnel dîner annuel du #CRIF aura lieu demain soir en présence du Président de la République @EmmanuelMacron. L'Ambassadeur de France en Israël, @EricDanon, sera également présent lors de ce rendez-vous important pour la communauté juive de France. pic.twitter.com/V1XFuSd2kN
— La France en Israël (@franceenisrael) February 23, 2022
