A Palestinian from Gaza, who was awarded a government stipend to study in France in a special program for Gazans, is under investigation for posting "hateful" antisemitic messages, which led to her losing her place in a French university and will have to leave the country, officials said on Thursday.
France's prestigious Sciences Po university in the northern city of Lille cancelled the student's accreditation on Wednesday. On Thursday, Lille's chief prosecutor, Carole Etienne, said a probe had been opened against Nour Atalla for allegedly trying to "justify terrorism" and "justify a crime against humanity".
A French diplomatic source said that, given those developments, the student "should now leave (French) national territory as soon as possible".
Screenshots of posts the student allegedly shared in September — published by pro-Israel accounts on X, formerly Twitter — include an image of Adolf Hitler and words appearing to call for the death of Jews. The account attributed to the student has been taken offline after French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau demanded it be closed down.
Retailleau said that "Hamas propagandists" should not be in the country, referring to the Palestinian terror group that rules Gaza. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Wednesday described her as "a Gazan student making antisemitic remarks" and pledged an inquiry into how she gained a student visa.
The Lille prosecutor's investigation comes against a background of heightened online rhetoric related to Israel's war in Gaza.
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France is home to both the biggest Muslim and Jewish communities in the European Union. The Sciences Po university said that the Palestinian student had been welcomed to its campus "at the recommendation of the French consulate in Jerusalem". The French diplomatic source said the student arrived in France on July 11 on a scholarship based on "academic excellence" and after "security checks".
France has helped more than 500 people leave Gaza since the latest war started, including wounded children, journalists, students and artists. French President Emmanuel Macron last week said his country will recognise Palestinian statehood in September, as international alarm grows about the plight of the more than two million Palestinians facing hunger in the Gaza Strip.
But Paris has urged a post-war plan for Gaza to exclude Hamas, which the European Union deems to be a "terrorist" group.