Nadine Osman
François Burgat, a leading French scholar on political Islam and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, won acquittal on May 28 when the criminal court in Aix-en-Provence dismissed charges of “apology for terrorism.” Authorities had accused him of sharing social media posts referencing Hamas and Israel’s war on Gaza.
Burgat, a former research director at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and director of the French Institute for the Near East, faced prosecution over comments he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
In April, prosecutors demanded an eight-month suspended sentence, a $4,500 fine, a six-month ban from social media, and a two-year ban from public office.
The case focused on a January 2, 2024, post where Burgat shared a Hamas statement responding to a New York Times investigation. The report had alleged that Hamas committed sexual violence during its October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel.
Hamas dismissed the accusations, calling them a “Zionist attempt to demonise the [Palestinian] resistance,” and claimed: “Our fighters are fighters for freedom and dignity and cannot commit such shameful acts.”
In follow-up posts, Burgat expressed “infinitely more respect and consideration for the leaders of Hamas than for those of the state of Israel.”
He included a page from one of his books to explain the context behind his view. In a separate interview, he clarified: “Just because I have to acknowledge that there was a terrorist movement on 7 October doesn’t mean I have to criminalise the Palestinian liberation movement.”
The Organisation Juive Européenne filed a legal complaint after reading these remarks. In response to a domestic intelligence report, police detained Burgat for seven hours on July 19, 2024. In December, prosecutors added a new charge after he publicly defended two individuals convicted in the 2020 terrorist killing of teacher Samuel Paty. Burgat had written that France had “fallen outside the rule of law” and warned, “we are all ‘terrorists’.”
During the hearing, the judge asked whether he considered Hamas a terrorist organisation. Burgat replied: “I have never congratulated [Hamas] for the 7 October attacks. On that day, [Hamas] committed acts that can be labelled terrorist, but we must not extrapolate that to its entire history.”
After the court dismissed the case, Burgat welcomed the decision as a sign of “wise lucidity from the court,” though he anticipated an appeal. “Let’s hope this wisdom—denied to dozens of my compatriots convicted without justification in similar cases—will now guide the French judicial system,” he said.
Burgat revealed that he had used ChatGPT to evaluate the legal risk of his statements. The AI tool advised him that his remarks, although provocative, remained “within the scope of political and geopolitical analysis,” which freedom of expression and academic research protect. It noted that a conviction seemed unlikely but warned of possible “abusive prosecution, including against intellectuals” due to the political climate.
His lawyer, Rafik Chekkat, argued that the authorities were targeting those who express solidarity with Palestine. “Two charges are systematically used: incitement to hatred and apology for terrorism,” he said. After the ruling, Chekkat posted on X, expressing hope that the verdict would help “change the repressive climate regarding Palestine and slow the pace of prosecutions.”
Since the October 7, 2023 attacks, French authorities have ramped up use of the “apology for terrorism” law.
Investigators have pursued public figures such as La France Insoumise MP Mathilde Panot and incoming MEP Rima Hassan. A court gave Jean-Paul Delescaut, leader of the General Confederation of Labour union, a one-year suspended sentence for writing: “The horrors of illegal occupations… are receiving the responses they provoked.”
On June 18, 2025, railway worker and Révolution Permanente spokesperson Anasse Kazib will appear in court on similar charges. In reaction to Burgat’s acquittal, Kazib posted: “Very happy for François Burgat. This is important news in the fight against the criminalisation of supporters of the Palestinian people. I hope that we will all be released tomorrow like François Burgat and that the repression against those who speak out against the genocide will cease.”
The ruling coincides with a shift in France’s tone on Gaza. President Emmanuel Macron has urged European nations to support Palestinian statehood at an upcoming UN summit. More public figures in France now describe Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as “genocide.”
Photo: François Burgat, renowned French political scientist and Middle East expert, was acquitted of charges of ‘apology for terrorism’ stemming from pro-Palestinian social media posts. (Credit: Arif Hüdaverdi Yaman/AA)
