French MPs to Vote on Bill That Would Treat Anti-Zionism As Terrorism

French MPs are preparing to vote on a law that treats criticism of Israel as antisemitic and widely expands the scope of terrorism legislation. 

Lawmakers will debate the bill informally dubbed Yadan’s Law – in reference to the MP who proposed the bill, Caroline Yadan – on 18 April. 

The bill would make it an offence to call for the destruction of Israel or any other state recognised by France. 

Under current law, “direct” incitement to terrorism is punishable by five years in prison and a €75,000 fine. The bill would expand that to “implicit” incitement or glorification of terrorist acts.

“People are going to be very afraid to talk about Palestinian rights and Israeli crimes if this law is adopted,” Cecile Marquerie, advocacy coordinator for an alliance of pro-Palestinian NGOs in France, told Radio France Internationale.

Former anti-terrorism judge Marc Trevidic told Middle East Eye: “I’d never seen anything like it, the notion of implicit incitement to terrorism. Do you realise what that means? Becoming a censor of other people’s thoughts, trying to guess what a person really meant.”

Alexandre Basse, who started a petition against Yadan’s Law which has now gained more than 690,000 signatures, said: “If this bill were to be passed, pacifist slogans like ‘equality and freedom for all from the sea to the Jordan’ could be subject to legal action.”

France has seen a sharp rise in reports of antisemitic acts since 7 October, 2023, with 1,570 recorded in 2024 and 1,676 in 2023, compared to between 311 and 851 per year from 2012 to 2022.

Yadan’s bill will reach the final stage of debate this week. The French parliamentary law committee passed the latest version by 18 votes to 14 in January.

Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.