Rima Hassan
Born (1992-04-28) April 28, 1992 (age 32)
NationalityStateless (until 2010)
French (since 2010)
Occupation(s)jurist, lawyer

Rima Hassan (Arabic: ريما حسان) is a French-Palestinian jurist, human rights activist and politician born on April 28, 1992, in the Palestinian refugee camp of Neirab, near Aleppo, Syria.

Having arrived in France around the age of nine, she graduated with a master's degree in international law and founded the NGO "Refugee Camps Observatory" in 2019, as well as the collective Action Palestine France in 2023. After practicing for a number of years in the field of international law, she joined 'La France Insoumise' party in 2023.

Family and origins

Rima Hassan Mobarak was born on April 28, 1992, in the Neirab camp, near Aleppo, Syria. She is the youngest of six children born to a schoolteacher, born in 1958, and a military father (a former mechanic in the Syrian Air Force), whose Palestinian parents, originally from the village of Al-Birwa, were forced into exile to Syria during the creation of Israel in May 1948, during the Nakba.[1][2]

Her maternal grandmother, from a prominent Syrian family — the Hananu — married a Palestinian refugee from Salfit and settled with him in the al-Nayrab camp.[2][3] Hassan grew up in the same camp.[4]

Arrival in France

Arriving in France at the age of 10, she settled in Niort, in the Deux-Sèvres region, with her sister and four brothers.[5] She was elected to the children's municipal council in 2003, in Niort.[6]

Stateless until her adulthood, she obtained French nationality in 2010.[1] Afterward, she attempted to travel to Palestine but was prevented from boarding the plane, an experience she considered unjust and which motivated her activism.[4]

Studies

After obtaining a scientific baccalaureate from the Lycée de la Venise Verte in Niort in 2011, she pursued law studies and earned her bachelor's degree (studying in Évry and then in Montpellier) in 2014. She spent a year in Lebanon and completed her master's degree in 2016 at the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

She focused on the legal comparison between South Africa and Israel in a master's thesis in international law on the issue of apartheid.[7]

Work

Rima Hassan joined the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) in 2016,[5] and after 18 months, she worked at the National Court of Asylum Law[1][8] for six years until 2023.[4] In 2022, the Interministerial Delegation for Reception and Integration dedicated a portrait to her as an "Inspirational Woman".[9][10] In 2019, she founded the NGO 'Refugee Camps Observatory'.[5][11][12][13]

In 2023, amid the bombing of the Gaza Strip and the ground offensive launched by Israel, following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, she terminated her contract with the National Court of Asylum Law and declined an advocacy position on migration issues offered by Amnesty International. Instead, she moved to the Palestinian refugee camp of al-Nayrab, near Aleppo, "to be close to her people" and established the Action Palestine France collective on Telegram.[4]

Until November 2023, she also advised L'Oréal on diversity and refugee integration issues.[14]

Political actions

In the 2024 European elections, Rima Hassan joined the list of La France Insoumise (LFI), where she was placed seventh,[15][16] after also being approached to be on the list of The Greens but in a non-eligible position.[17][18]

She explains her political commitment to LFI's list by the "urgent need to act politically now" regarding the situation in Gaza Strip.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c Gendron, Guillaume. "Rima Hassan, la Palestine à cœur et à cris". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  2. ^ a b "" Être réfugiée palestinienne, c'est vivre en quête de son identité "". Association France Palestine Solidarité (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-04-22. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  3. ^ "C'est l'histoire de Malak, héritière syrienne tombée amoureuse d'un charismatique Palestinien". Le Nouvel Obs (in French). 2024-01-05. Archived from the original on 2024-02-06. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  4. ^ a b c d "Rima Hassan, la Palestine chevillée au cœur". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2024-01-14. Archived from the original on 2024-05-01. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  5. ^ a b c "Rima Hassan : "L'intégration ne se dicte pas, elle se vit"". La Nouvelle République. Archived from the original on 2024-05-03. Retrieved 2024-05-03..
  6. ^ l’AFP, LE COURRIER DE L’OUEST avec (2024-03-18). "La très controversée Rima Hassan a suivi sa scolarité en Deux-Sèvres". Courrier de l'Ouest (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-04-18. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  7. ^ Poinssot, Amélie (2023-10-29). "Rima Hassan, réfugiée palestinienne : " Nous subissons une punition collective "". Mediapart (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-03-08. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  8. ^ "En sol majeur - Rima Hassan Mobarak, au service des Réfugiés". RFI (in French). 2022-10-29. Archived from the original on 2024-04-23. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  9. ^ AFP (2024-04-30). "Rima Hassan, la "petite dernière de la famille" insoumise, sur le devant de la scène". Challenges (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-05-03. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  10. ^ Legay, Luc (2022-03-08). "#Dansmavie avec Rima Hassan ⋆ Diair". Diair (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-05-01. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  11. ^ AFP (2019-11-29). "Rima Hassan, visage et contre-pouvoir des camps de réfugiés". Challenges (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-04-20. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  12. ^ à 11h15, Par Emmanuelle Vibert Le 28 mai 2022 (2022-05-28). "Rima Hassan, à l'origine de l'Observatoire des camps de réfugiés, se veut la voix des "indésirables"". leparisien.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-03-19. Retrieved 2024-05-03.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "Rima Hassan : la voix des camps de réfugiés". À Priori(s) (in French). Archived from the original on 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  14. ^ "Rima Hassan : les ambiguïtés d'une "Greta Thunberg" de la cause palestinienne". L'Express (in French). 2024-01-29. Archived from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  15. ^ "Elections européennes 2024 : La France insoumise dévoile sa liste, la militante propalestinienne Rima Hassan en septième position". Franceinfo (in French). 2024-03-06. Archived from the original on 2024-04-23. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  16. ^ "Rima Hassan, le choix de l'insoumission". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2024-03-16. Archived from the original on 2024-04-30. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  17. ^ à 19h56, Par Pierre Maurer Le 18 mars 2024 (2024-03-18). "Européennes : avec Rima Hassan, LFI place la Palestine au cœur de sa campagne". leparisien.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-04-26. Retrieved 2024-05-03.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Pol, Chez. "Européennes : les Ecologistes ont tenté de débaucher Rima Hassan". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-05-03. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  19. ^ "Élections européennes : 5 choses à savoir sur Rima Hassan, la voix palestinienne de LFI". TF1 INFO (in French). 2024-03-09. Archived from the original on 2024-05-01. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
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