Pro-Palestinian French MEP Rima Hassan has dismissed calls, led by politicians affiliated to President Emmanuel Macron, for an investigation after she attended a pro-Gaza rally in Amman, Jordan, where members of the crowd held pictures of slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The calls come during a tense time in French politics, more than six weeks after a snap election that has left France with a caretaker government and political parties jostling for influence in parliament without a clear majority.
I am not responsible for the fact that protesters show their support for Hamas
Rima Hassan
“I am not responsible for the fact that protesters show their support for Hamas,” Ms Hassan, a leftist politician, told The National. While she said she was aware that some pro-Hamas slogans were chanted during the march last week, she said she “took care not to display them” in her social media posts and attended the protest with a left-wing Jordanian human rights lawyer.
Pro-Gaza protests in Jordan, which are usually allowed to assemble near the Israeli embassy, have been largely organised by the Muslim Brotherhood and people linked with the group. Leftists and Jordanian nationalists are generally also among the crowds.
“I went to this demonstration, as I have always done, with the aim of supporting the popular mobilisations highlighting the situation in Gaza,” said Ms Hassan, referring to the continuing Israeli war against the enclave that has killed more than 40,200 people following the deaths of around 1,200 people in a Hamas-led attack in October.
More than 50 MPs from Mr Macron's political party Renaissance sent a letter this week to the Paris prosecutor describing Ms Hassan's participation in the rally as “barely concealed support for the terrorist organisation Hamas”, according to French magazine Le Point. They accused her of “encouraging racial hatred” and “glorifying terrorism”.
The MPs, including government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot, also wrote to European Parliament president Roberta Metsola asking that she lift Ms Hassan's immunity if an investigation is opened in France, in addition to imposing sanctions against her.
The European Parliament code of conduct stipulates that a request to lift the immunity of a sitting MEP can only be made by a “competent authority” in an EU state, which does not include lawmakers, or the European chief prosecutor. The European Parliament has been on summer recess since July 26, until September 2.
Should Ms Metsola receive a request to lift an MEP's immunity, she must first make an announcement during a plenary session. The next one is scheduled for September 16.
Then the legal affairs department conducts an investigation behind closed doors before giving its opinion to Ms Metsola, who submits it to a plenary vote. This is not an uncommon procedure. The most recent occurrence was in April with German politician Gunnar Beck.
French MP Caroline Yadan, who represents French constituents abroad including in a number of southern European countries and Israel, said on X that she had personally led the initiative to write the two letters.
“This poison of hatred cannot decently sit within our democratic institutions, at our expense and at the expense of our republican values. I will not let her go,” wrote Ms Yadan.
The National contacted Ms Yadan for comment but has not had a response.
Accusations of supporting Hamas are routinely levelled against Ms Hassan, a Syria-born Palestinian lawyer who moved to France as a child, since she gave an interview in November in which she said its actions were legitimate. She has responded by saying her comments were taken out of context and that the Hamas attacks constituted war crimes but they did not excuse the Israeli response.
“I have already communicated the UN resolutions a hundred times on which I based myself to speak of the legitimacy of armed action in a context of struggle for self-determination, and my lawyers are working with a court official on a complete transcription of this [November] interview,” Ms Hassan said.
Ms Hassan described the letters as “manoeuvres based on nothing” and part of a “battle of narratives that supporters of the Israeli regime want to win at all costs by criminalising the voices that warn about the fate of the Palestinians and ensure that they are silenced”.
“There is no legal basis for this request and those who made it are known for their position of support for a genocidal regime that I am fighting and that I will continue to fight with or without a mandate as a Euro MP,” added Ms Hassan.
Ms Hassan said she is currently visiting Jordan and Lebanon as part of a personal photographic project on Palestinian camps in the region following a contract with a publishing house signed on October 2, before the Hamas attacks against Israel. The photos will be exhibited in Tunis in October.
Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
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THE TWIN BIO
Their favourite city: Dubai
Their favourite food: Khaleeji
Their favourite past-time : walking on the beach
Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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Profile of Hala Insurance
Date Started: September 2018
Founders: Walid and Karim Dib
Based: Abu Dhabi
Employees: Nine
Amount raised: $1.2 million
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, AB Accelerator, 500 Startups, private backers
Profile of MoneyFellows
Founder: Ahmed Wadi
Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
- Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
- Thursday 20 January: v England
- Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad:
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith
THE SPECS
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Match info:
Wolves 1
Boly (57')
Manchester City 1
Laporte (69')
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Profile Idealz
Company: Idealz
Founded: January 2018
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Size: (employees): 22
Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
RESULTS
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Winner Jayide Al Boraq, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
Favourite book: ‘The Art of Learning’ by Josh Waitzkin
Favourite film: Marvel movies
Favourite parkour spot in Dubai: Residence towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
