France announced last week that it has paused evacuations from the Gaza Strip pending an investigation into a Palestinian student’s antisemitic social media history. Soon after, reports circulated on social media that there is a second individual who was granted refugee status in France who holds similar antisemitic views.
The first student, Nour Atallah, was set to begin studying law and communications at the Sciences Po Lille university this fall, but has had her status rescinded. She may now be deported from the country.
The Lille public prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday that “an investigation has been opened into an online public communications service over its condoning of terrorism and its condoning of crimes against humanity.”
Sciences Po Lille released a statement saying that it had “welcomed this student on the proposal of the French Consulate General in Jerusalem” but that as soon as it was notified of her posts, it consulted with the Education Ministry and management and decided to cancel her student status.
“The content of these posts is in direct contradiction with the values upheld by Sciences Po Lille, which fights against all forms of racism, antisemitism, and discrimination,” the university said.
France’s Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, immediately requested the closure of her account and instructed the prosecutor to refer the matter to the judiciary.
“Hamas propagandists have no place in our country,” he said.
What did Atallah post?
Atallah shared multiple antisemitic and pro-Hitler content on her X/Twitter account @Atallah_Nur, which has since been deleted. This included sharing a post on October 9, 2023, which said, “The execution of hostages should not be random or hasty. The filming should be of high quality, befitting the joy of what occurred on Saturday morning [October 7].”
She also shared a video of Adolf Hitler saying, “Kill the Jews everywhere.” At 7:21 a.m. on October 7, she wrote, “Thank God.”
Atallah also eulogized her uncle – Ayoub Atallah – who was the bodyguard for Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas. The two were killed at the same time in an IDF strike in March 2004.
Her entry to France was granted thanks to the provision of a scholarship by the French Consulate General in Jerusalem earlier in 2024, under the oversight of France’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot. She landed in the country only last week and was being hosted by Sciences Po Lille’s director, Etienne Peyrat.
It is worth noting that the French National Court of Asylum (CNDA) ruled in mid-July that all Palestinian nationals from the Gaza Strip who the United Nations does not protect can receive refugee status in France because of “the risk of persecution by the Israeli armed forces.”
Barrot said that the pre-screenings “carried out by the competent services of the relevant ministries have clearly not worked” and requested that an internal investigation be conducted to “ensure this would not happen again under any circumstances.”
Shortly after, on Friday, he announced on France Info radio that he had halted evacuations of Gazans from the Gaza Strip: “No operation of this type, no evacuation of any kind will take place until we have drawn the consequences of this investigation.”
He added that “all the individuals who entered France will be subject to a new check.”
A second individual?
Meanwhile, there have been reports circulating on social media of a second individual granted refugee status in France with a similar Jew-hating perspective.
Fady Hossam Hanona – a journalist – posted, “The Jews are sons of dogs and I am for killing them and burning them like Hitler did. I would be extremely happy.”
He also wrote, “I reject anything Jewish, Israeli, or Zionist, or anyone who speaks Hebrew. I am ready to kill them wherever they are: children, old people, or soldiers.”
Honest Reporting revealed the multiple antisemitic posts in 2022 when Hanona was still a freelancer for The New York Times. The publication subsequently cut ties with him.
Hanona is now also living in France, having left Gaza on July 25 with the help of Quai D’Orsay, France’s Foreign Ministry.
France 24 submitted a piece on him dated July 30 in which he is referred to as a “regular contributor to France 24” for the last nine years, now residing in Paris.
The news outlet also interviewed him on live TV, saying that while he was “once known for militant rhetoric,” he is now a “voice of reason and moderation, speaking with resilience and hope, urging Hamas and Israel to end the suffering.”
The Jerusalem Post reached out to the French Foreign Ministry and the Lille public prosecutor’s office for comment.