François Burgat, Emeritus Director of the CNRS, Placed in Police Custody for “Glorifying Terrorism”

François Burgat was questioned in Aix-en-Provence for “apology for terrorism” and held in police custody for more than 8 hours. François Burgat is a political scientist, specialist in Islam, emeritus research director of the CNRS; he was also a teacher at the Institute of Political Studies in Aix-en-Provence. The French government and its justice system are eagerly following up on complaints filed against a large part of the solidarity movement for Palestine, by associations created after October 7, such as the French Jewish Youth, or in 2014, like the European Jewish Organization at the time of the Israeli operation against Gaza called “Protective Edge”.

To continue with impunity to mistreat people who only recall the colonial context in Palestine, and to call for a just and lasting peace, is unacceptable.

Justice must distance itself from complaints whose objective is political and not a fair application of the Law.

The UJFP underlines the indecency of such intimidation at a time when we receive information on the continuation of the genocidal enterprise in Gaza and the acceleration of the colonization of the West Bank.

The UJFP demonstrates its solidarity and availability to François Burgat.

The UJFP denounces these intimidating legal actions, which seek to pass off solidarity with Palestinians as anti-Semitism or an apology for terrorism and pave the way for the extreme right, by systematically demonizing the left.

The National Coordination of the UJFP, July 10, 2024