French government bans two pro-Palestinian groups accused of inciting violence

HAS DISSOLVED two pro-Palestinian groups accused by the government of inciting “hatred, violence and discrimination”.

Ministers agreed to take action against Comité Action Palestine (CAP) and Comité Palestine Vaincra (CPV) during a meeting last Wednesday. Both groups promoted boycotts of Israel, according to degrees shared on Twitter by interior minister Gérald Darmanin.

He said they both promote “an ideology inciting hatred, violence and discrimination of individuals based on their origin, their race or their religion”.

CAP is accused of “relaying statements from terrorist organisations including Hamas, the Islamic Jihad in Palestine and the armed branch of Hezbollah”. It also allegedly posted material online “encouraging and cultivating a feeling of hatred towards Israel, Israelis and Zionists and expresses calls to violence, sometimes going as far as advocating for the destruction of the state of Israel”.

It stands accused of illustrating an online article last year with an image of a woman kneeing a man who was shown in an Israeli uniform and bearing “physical characteristics traditionally associated with Jews in antisemitic caricatures”.

According to one of the decrees, a complaint was lodged against CAP members for using a “quenelle” — a gesture said to be antisemitic, with a hand pointing down — near a synagogue in the southwestern city of Bordeaux in 2013.

A photo of the incident was shared on social media but CAP representatives did not “condemn the actions, nor bear the consequences”, it adds.

CPV is accused of “inciting hatred against Jews in abstaining from moderating antisemitic comments on its Facebook page”, with posts from February 2020 and January 2022 sparking hateful comments, including a reference to “unpunished Nazi Zionist terrorists”.

A statement from CPV said it was “scandalised by this purely political decision” .

Lawyers representing CAP said the group would “urgently contest this measure”. CAP was also “concerned the dissolution aimed to stifle criticism, albeit strong, of Israeli politics”. It also said its public stances were “inscribed within a political debate relating to the violation of Palestinians’ rights, which should not and could be confused with any call to hatred or antisemitism”.

CAP is accused of relaying statements from Hamas and Hezbollah