The 25-year-old Palestinian is accused of having shared content promoting the actions of Hamas and glorifying Adolf Hitler’s actions against the Jews, going so far as to describe the Nazi dictator as a ‘visionary’.
The student’s case has been singled out by Higher Education Minister who has taken the matter to court.
The Institute of Political Studies in Lille, France, announced this week that it was cancelling the enrolment of a student from Gaza, after discovering publications on social networks denounced as ‘hateful’, ‘anti-Semitic’ and ‘an apology for terrorism’ or ‘crimes against humanity.’’
The 25-year-old young woman, named Nour Atallah, who arrived in France last February after leaving Gaza, is accused in particular of having shared content promoting the actions of Hamas. On X, an account on her name posted a message two days after the terrorist attack on 7 October calling for the execution of hostages held by Hamas, specifying that it should be filmed in ‘high quality’ and sent to universities and the Western media.
In September 2024, she also reposted several publications glorifying Adolf Hitler’s actions against the Jews, going so far as to describe the Nazi dictator as a ‘visionary’.
‘’After consultation with the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Rectorate,, the management of Sciences Po Lille, an elite school, has decided to cancel this student’s planned enrolment at our institution,’’ the school wrote on its X account.
‘’The content of some of this student’s publications on social networks over the past two years ‘runs directly counter to the values espoused by Sciences Po Lille, which fights against all forms of racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination, as well as against any type of incitement to hatred, against any population whatsoever,’’ it stressed.
The Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF) accused the young woman of having called for the ‘‘extermination of the Jews’’ and of having ‘’congratulated Hitler.’’ The association stated that ‘Sciences Po Lille cannot be a gateway for neo-Nazi discourse’.
The school mentioned to Agence France Presse that it had welcomed this student at the suggestion of the French Consulate General in Jerusalem. ‘’She came to France via French diplomacy,’’ it added. The young woman was given temporary accommodation in the home of the director of Sciences Po Lille, where he no longer lives,’’while awaiting the university accommodation reserved for her,’’ the school explained.
‘’The screening carried out by the relevant departments of the ministries concerned clearly did not work,’’ admitted French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on X, indicating that he had ‘’asked for an internal investigation to be carried out so that this can never happen again.’’
‘’Whether they come from Gaza or elsewhere, international students making or relaying such remarks have no place in our country,’’ wrote Philippe Baptiste, Minister for Higher Education.
‘’I have already referred the matter to the public prosecutor under article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,’’ he said.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau stressed on X that he had ‘’asked for this hateful account to be closed down, and instructed the prefect to take the matter to court’’, insisting that ‘’Hamas propagandists have no place in our country.’’
She is expected to be expelled from French territory.