Sunday, 17 November , 2024

Statement of Solidarity with François Burgat

We the undersigned express our solidarity with our colleague François Burgat, emeritus senior researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), who was detained by the French police on July 9, 2024. He was accused of “apology for terrorism” and taken into custody.

François Burgat is the author of The Islamic Movement in North Africa (University of Texas Press, 1993), Face to Face with Political Islam (I.B. Tauris, 2003), and Islamism in the Shadow of al-Qaeda (University of Texas Press, 2008), among other internationally recognized scientific publications. He has dutifully served the French Republic during a career that spanned five decades and three continents. He is the former director of the French Center for Archaeology and Social Science in Sanaa (CEFAS) and of the French Institute for the Near East (IFPO), two prestigious research centers funded by the CNRS and the French foreign office.

Like dozens of colleagues, Burgat dedicated his career to analyzing Islamism and political violence in the Middle East. His lawyer, Rafik Chekkat, declared on June 28, 2024 that “this umpteenth procedure aimed once again to silence individuals and organizations that condemn the ongoing Gaza massacre, demand an end to Israeli impunity, and call for the respect of international law in the region. This procedure is a new attack on the freedom of expression.”

Since October 7, 2023, dozens of individuals have been targeted by the French police for “apology for terrorism,” including Mathilde Panot, the House Leader for left wing party “France Unbowed,” and Rima Hassan, a Palestinian-French Member of the European Parliament. This wave of detentions was made possible by recent revisions of French law. The November 13, 2014 law granted extended powers to all public prosecutors to detain and question those individuals who are suspected of presenting or commenting in a positive way on a terrorist attack.

On October 10, 2023, three days after Hamas’s attacks, French Minister of Justice Eric Dupont-Moretti asked public prosecutors to bring charges against individuals publicly praising the attacks or presenting them as legitimate resistance. François Burgat is the latest target in a political campaign that aims at silencing pro-Palestinian voices in France and at equating explanation with justification, and analysis with incitement. We express our solidarity with him and with others whom the French state has tried to silence by enforcing the November 13, 2014 terrorism laws.

The list below reflects signatures collected before July 11th. If you would like to see an updated list of signatories, please see this document.

  1. Ammar Abboud, Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections

  2. Ayman Abdelkader, University of Granada

  3. Malek Abisaab, McGill University

  4. Amira Abou-Taleb, University of Helsinki

  5. Leon Adriaensen, Ghent University

  6. Gregory Afinogenov, Georgetown University

  7. Irfan Ahmad, Ibn Haldun University Istanbul

  8. Denise Aigle, EPHE (Emerita)

  9. Ayça Alemdaroğlu, Stanford University

  10. Abdulla Alhasso, NHS

  11. Irada Aljubori, University of Baghdad

  12. Abdul-Hameed Al-Kayyali, IFPO

  13. Stefano Allievi, University of Padova

  14. Bruno Alonso, CNRS

  15. Mustapha Kamel Al-Sayyid, Cairo University

  16. Nabil Al-Tikriti, University of Mary Washington

  17. Ignacio Álvarez Ossorio, Complutense University of Madrid

  18. Anahi Alviso-Marino, CEFREPA

  19. Elena Arigita, University of Granada

  20. Talal Asad, City University of New York Graduate Center (Emeritus)

  21. Arthur Asseraf, University of Cambridge

  22. Hala Awada, Lebanese University

  23. Omer Awass, American Islamic College

  24. Latifa Bakiri, ENS Alum

  25. Andrea Balduzzi, University of Genoa (Emeritus)

  26. Mohammed Bamyeh, University of Pittsburgh

  27. Sindre Bangstad, KIFO, Norway

  28. Fadi Bardawil, Duke University

  29. Isaías Barreñada, Complutense University of Madrid

  30. Peri Bearman, Journal of the American Oriental Society

  31. Willy Beauvallet, Lyon 2 Lumière University

  32. Ibrahim Bechrouri, City University of New York

  33. Aya Bejermi, Sciences Po Bordeaux

  34. Brahim Benarfa, University of Batna

  35. Jamal Benbouziyane, EHTP Casablanca

  36. Mounia Bennani-Chraïbi, University of Lausanne

  37. Elizabeth Berger, George Washington University School of Medicine

  38. Khalid Blankinship, Temple University

  39. Koen Bogaert, Ghent University

  40. Laurent Bonnefoy, CNRS

  41. Jean-Pierre Bouché, CNRS (Emeritus)

  42. Marianne Blume, Université Libre de Bruxelles

  43. Véronique Bontemps, CNRS

  44. Ziad Bou Akl, EPHE

  45. Mabrouk Boutagouga, University of Batna

  46. Jonathan Brown, Georgetown University

  47. Charles Butterworth, University of Maryland (Emeritus)

  48. Chiara Calabrese, CNRS

  49. Marina Calculli, Columbia University, Sciences Po Paris

  50. Delphine Cavallo, Aix-Marseille University

  51. Dominique Caubet, INALCO (Emerita)

  52. Khalid Chahbar, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra

  53. Ararou Chakib, IREMAM, Aix-Marseille University

  54. Sébastien Chauvin, University of Lausanne

  55. Anis Chérif-Alami, Paris 1 University

  56. Luisa Chiodi, Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa

  57. Joëlle Conrotte, Le Questionnement Psychanalyste, Bruxelles

  58. Emilio Dabed, Al-Quds University

  59. Joseph Daher, University of Lausanne

  60. Rochelle Davis, Georgetown University

  61. Sonia Dayan-Herzbrun, Paris 7 University (Emerita)

  62. Islam Dayeh, Ghent University

  63. Muriam Haleh Davis, University of California, Santa Cruz

  64. Marc Deballon, French foreign office (retired)

  65. Serkan Demirel, University of Fribourg

  66. Sixtine Deroure, Sciences Po Paris

  67. Jean-Paul Descoeudres, University of Geneva (Emeritus)

  68. Faisal Devji, University of Oxford

  69. Karima Dirèche, CNRS

  70. Philippe Dollfus, CNRS

  71. Simon Dubois, IFPO

  72. Juliette Duclos-Valois, EHESS

  73. Baudouin Dupret, CNRS

  74. Anne-Marie Eddé, Paris 1 University (Emerita)

  75. Adnan ElAmine, Lebanese University

  76. Eman El-Bahnassawy, Edinburgh Dental Institute

  77. Kamilia El-Eriani, University of Melbourne

  78. Dina El-Khawaga, Cairo University

  79. Christo El Morr, York University

  80. Hoda Elsadda, Cairo University

  81. John Esposito, Georgetown University

  82. Annouk Essyad, University of Fribourg

  83. Abdelfattah Ezzine, Espace Mediation (EsMed)

  84. Mohammad Fadel, University of Toronto

  85. Nadia Fadil, Leuven University

  86. Khaled Fahmy, Tufts University

  87. Iman Farag, CEDEJ

  88. Michael Farquhar, King’s College London

  89. Laura Feliu, Autonomous University of Barcelona

  90. Carol Ferrara, Emerson College

  91. Jean-Noël Ferrié, CNRS

  92. Nenad Filipovic, Oriental Institute University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

  93. Olivier Fillieule, University of Lausanne

  94. Raphaëlle Fourlinnie, EHESS

  95. Jess Fournier, University of California, Santa Cruz

  96. Julie Franck, University of Geneva

  97. Véronique Ginouvès, CNRS

  98. Flora Gonseth Yousef, Paris 8 University

  99. Burhan Ghalioun, Paris 3 University (Emeritus)

  100. Paul Grassin, Paris 1 University

  101. Luz Gómez, Autonomous University of Madrid

  102. Jeroen Gunning, King’s College London

  103. Ricardo Gutierrez, Université Libre de Bruxelles

  104. Bassam Haddad, George Mason University

  105. Yvonne Haddad, Georgetown University (Emerita)

  106. Ratiba Hadj-Moussa, York University

  107. Farid Hafez, William College

  108. Bassel Haidar, CNRS (Emeritus)

  109. Lisa Hajjar, University of California, Santa Barbara

  110. Sadek Hamid, University of Wales

  111. Sari Hanafi, American University of Beirut

  112. Maya Hannun, University of Exeter

  113. Egbert Harmsen, Independent Researcher

  114. Dónal Hasset, Maynooth University

  115. Samuel Hayat, CNRS

  116. Mélanie Henry, CEDEJ

  117. Choukri Hmed, Paris Cité University

  118. Adel Iskandar, Simon Fraser University

  119. Raihan Ismail, University of Oxford

  120. Shamil Jeppie, University of Cape Town

  121. Eric Jeunot, Victoria University of Wellington

  122. Timothy Scott Johnson, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi

  123. Jonathan Jonsson, University of Oslo

  124. Augustin Jomier, INALCO

  125. Christine Jungen, CNRS

  126. Aissa Kadri, Paris 8 University (Emeritus)

  127. Aurelia Kalisky, Centre Marc Bloch

  128. Neil Ketchley, University of Oxford

  129. Amal Khaleefa, Paris 3 University

  130. Lamia Khalidi, CNRS

  131. Mona Khalidi, Columbia University (Emerita)

  132. Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University (Emeritus)

  133. Laleh Khalili, University of Exeter

  134. Nicole Khouri, Institut des mondes africains (IMAF)

  135. Eberhard Kienle, CERI

  136. Samuel Kigar, University of Puget Sound

  137. Said Kirhlani, King Juan Carlos University

  138. Mimi Kirk, Georgetown University

  139. David Klein, California State University Northridge (Emeritus)

  140. Hilary Klonin, NHS

  141. Fayrouz Kraish, NHS

  142. Medhi Labzaé, CNRS

  143. Helene Lackner, Independent Researcher

  144. Nadège Lahmar, Independent Researcher

  145. Mark Lance, Georgetown University (Emeritus)

  146. Nordine Latreche, Paris 12 University

  147. Stéphanie Latte Abdallah, CNRS

  148. Robert Launay, Northwestern University

  149. Johanna Lems, Complutense University of Madrid

  150. Sarah Leperché, Paris 1 University

  151. Sarah Lewis Cappellari, Independent Researcher

  152. Brynjar Lia, University of Oslo

  153. Irene Lizzola, Sciences Po Bordeaux

  154. Ali Lmrabet, Journalist

  155. Françoise Lorcerie, CNRS

  156. Noëmie Lucas, University of Edinburgh

  157. Charlotte Lysa, University of Oslo

  158. Brooke Maddux, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne

  159. Emir Mahieddin, CNRS, EHESS

  160. Shaimaa Magued, Cairo University

  161. Amna Mahmood, University of Oslo

  162. Rima Majed, American University of Beirut

  163. Mohammed Masbah, Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis

  164. Raffaele Mauriello, Allameh Tabataba’i University

  165. James McDougall, University of Oxford

  166. Anne Meneley, Trent University

  167. Pascal Menoret, University of Oxford

  168. Nadine Méouchy, Independent Researcher

  169. Mourad Mhenni, University of Sousse

  170. Jean-Louis Mignot, former ambassador

  171. Laura Mijares, Complutense University of Madrid

  172. Noureddine Miladi, Sultan Qaboos University

  173. Thomas Miles, Independent Researcher

  174. Catherine Miller, Aix-Marseille University (Emerita)

  175. Tariq Modood, University of Bristol

  176. Mohammed Mohammed, NHS

  177. Ahmed Mohsin, Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University

  178. Yasmin Moll, University of Michigan

  179. Ebrahim Moosa, University of Notre Dame

  180. Anne Marie Moulin, CNRS (Emerita)

  181. Yasser Munif, Emerson College

  182. Katie Natanel, University of Exeter

  183. Marwa Neji, University of Ghent

  184. Alicia Olmo, Autonomous University of Madrid

  185. Jennifer Olmsted, Drew University

  186. Rafael Ortega, University of Granada

  187. M’hamed Oualdi, Sciences Po Paris

  188. Abdelmalek Ouard, University Moulay Ismail, Meknès

  189. Flávia Paniz, Federal University of São Paulo

  190. Christopher Parker, University of Ghent

  191. Marie-Anne Paveau, Paris 13 University

  192. Elizabeth Perego, Appalachian State University

  193. Glenn Perry, Indiana State University (Emeritus)

  194. Jean-Christophe Peyssard, MMSH, Aix-Marseille University

  195. Thomas Pierret, CNRS

  196. Edie Pistolesi, California State University Northridge (Emerita)

  197. Ana Planet Contreras, Autonomous University of Madrid

  198. Marine Poirier, CNRS

  199. Nicolas Puig, CNRS

  200. Saadia Radi, Centre Jacques Berque

  201. Omar Ramahi, University of Waterloo

  202. Eugénie Rébillard, IFPO

  203. Matthieu Rey, CNRS

  204. Nils Riecken, Ruhr University Bochum

  205. André Rousseau, CNRS (Emeritus)

  206. Kathryn Russell, SUNY Cortland (Emerita)

  207. Adam Sabra, University of California, Santa Barbara

  208. Haider Saeed, Doha Institute

  209. Sbeih Sbeih, IREMAM

  210. Trish Scanlan, Children’s Health Ireland

  211. Amir-Moazami Schirin, Free University of Berlin

  212. Gabriëlle Schleijpen, Dutch Art Institute

  213. Soraya Seedat, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

  214. Geneviève Sellier, Bordeaux Montaigne University

  215. Sami Sener, Istanbul Medipol University

  216. Thomas Serres, University of California, Santa Cruz

  217. Jihane Sfeir, Université libre de Bruxelles

  218. Auday Shabeeb, University of Thi-Qar

  219. Majid Sharifi, Eastern Washington University

  220. Marc Siegel, Johannes Gutenberg University

  221. Paul Silverstein, Reed College

  222. Erik Skare, University of Oslo

  223. Joanne Smith Finley, Newcastle University

  224. Erling Sogge, University of Oslo

  225. Vivian Solana, Carleton University

  226. Abdallah Souabni, IARC Alumnus

  227. Jaber Suleiman, Independent Researcher

  228. Justin Stearns, NYUAD

  229. Helga Tawil-Souri, NYU

  230. Ana Teixeria Pinto, Dutch Art Institute

  231. Laurence Thieux, Complutense University of Madrid

  232. Ingvild Tomren, University of Oslo

  233. Hanne Trangerud, University of Oslo

  234. Massimiliano Trentin, University of Bologna

  235. Judith Tucker, Georgetown University (Emerita)

  236. Bjørn Olav Utvik, University of Oslo

  237. Dona Van Bloemen, UNDP

  238. Pauline Van Mourik Broekman, UCL

  239. Marie Vannetzel, CNRS

  240. An Van Raemdonck, Ghent University

  241. Vanessa Van Renterghem, INALCO

  242. Jean-Pierre Van Staëvel, Paris 1 University

  243. Eric Verdeil, Sciences Po Paris

  244. Francisco Vidal Castro, University of Jaén

  245. Ruth M. Grego Vieira, SOAS

  246. Knut Vikør, University of Bergen

  247. Alice Von Bieberstein, Humboldt University

  248. Dror Warschawski, CNRS

  249. Max Weiss, Princeton University

  250. Kirsten Wesselhoeft, Vassar College

  251. Héla Yousfi, Paris Dauphine University

  252. Ahmed Zalaf, Independent Researcher

  253. Jerry Zee, Princeton University

  254. Sami Zemni, Ghent University

  255. Sherifa Zuhur, Institute of Middle Eastern, Islamic, and Strategic Studies

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