‘J’accuse’ Redux: France’s Jordan Bardella Claims EU’s Top Diplomat Channeled Funds to Hamas

Not just another pretty face, the National Rally’s youthful Jordan Bardella just called Europe’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, a liar and accused him of indirectly funding Hamas.It was during a commemoration ceremony at the European Parliament of the massacres committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in Israel. Mr. Bardella, who heads the National Rally party in France as well as the right-wing Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, launched a full frontal attack against the EU’s foreign policy chief, the septuagenarian Spaniard Josep Borrell.“The head of ‘European diplomacy,’ Josep Borrell, lied in this chamber,” Mr. Bardella said, adding, “I therefore remind him of a truth: European funds, and therefore the money of our fellow citizens, have indeed indirectly fuelled Hamas and Islamist ideology.”He prefaced the accusation by saying that “October 7 reminded us of this European naivete when we made it known here that public funds from Europe were indirectly fueling the Hamas terrorist movement.”What is happening in the hallowed hallows of putative pan-European comity at Strasbourg? The backstory is that Mr. Bardella and his parliamentary group are staunch Eurosceptics who seek a smaller role for Brussels in world affairs and a larger one for individual countries, such as France.Across Europe as in America, the war in Israel is a highly charged topic. Patriots for Europe is an anti-immigrant bloc, and for it as for the National Rally the predations of radical Islamic ideology and the failure of many predominantly Muslim migrant to assimilate with European culture is a defining issue of the day.According to Mr. Bardella, between 2014 and 2021, the European Commission paid nearly the equivalent of nearly $2 million euros to the Islamic University of Gaza, whose spiritual guide, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, is “none other than one of the founders of Hamas.”These were fighting words meant for all Europeans to hear, and Mr. Borrell seemed to recognize that. He answered that “I hope you have proof of that, sir, because politicians shouldn’t slander others. They should provide evidence. There is no evidence that European funds went into Hamas coffers.”“Mr. Bardella, if you don’t provide this evidence, I hope you withdraw your accusations,” he added.Mr. Bardella then retorted, “Despite calling me a slanderer because I pointed out the misappropriated financing of Hamas through public funds from Europe and therefore by the money of our compatriots, I maintain my position.”For evidence, he pointed out press reports and investigations including an article on the topic published in Le Figaro on October 24, 2023. “The liar is therefore named Josep Borrell,” Mr. Bardella said. The feisty 29-year-old Frenchman, perhaps energized by a brief sojourn under the Greek sun, was not done. He took aim at “blind, sleepwalking” French politicians, too. “On this day [October 7], in France, the Minister of Education scrapped a minute of silence in French schools. Thus begins submission.” It was a loaded choice of word, because the word Islam literally means submission. He also blasted the European left for sending elected officials to Strasbourg who are in his words “spokespersons for Hamas.”Mr. Bardella is by no means the only politician to take issue with the Mr. Borrell. A German parliamentarian from the Christian Democratic Union party, Daniel Caspary, lambasted Mr. Borrell’s lack of engagement. “If it were not for the fact that you will soon be leaving office, I would be tempted to ask you how many times in the four years you were in office and since October 7 you have gone to the region to speak about these answers, of the possibility of finding a way out of the conflict,” he said. Mr. Borrell has long been accused of harboring an anti-Israel bias. During a ceremony for receiving an honorary degree from the University of Valladolid earlier this year he found time to assert that “Hamas was financed by the Israeli government in an attempt to weaken the Fatah Palestinian Authority.”If the EU’s roster of Eurocrats seem on the whole to be working overtime to ensure that Brussels remains a laughingstock among global influencers, who can forget President Macron? The French president recently called for a ban on arms deliveries to Israel for use against Hamas terrorists in Gaza. That move placated members of the left-wing, anti-Israel France Unbowed party, but few others. Addressing the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions, or CRIF, on October 7, Prime Minister Barnier said “You can count on the President of the Republic to protect our compatriots of the Jewish faith.” The words were met with loud boos. According to Le Figaro, some audience members called out simply: “Weapons.”

‘J’accuse’ Redux: France’s Jordan Bardella Claims EU’s Top Diplomat Channeled Funds to Hamas

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