Bashir Biazar’s account of Paris’s war against journalists

The Israeli regime’s war on Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023, quickly expanded across various domains and geographies.

Western countries, which claim to uphold freedom of expression and human rights, have been among the primary fronts in another dimension of the war that the Israeli regime has waged against the media: a war against journalists and media professionals in Gaza and beyond, aimed at silencing reports of the ongoing crimes in Gaza.

France has been at the forefront of the campaign launched by the Israeli regime against pro-Palestinian journalists, with repeated arrests of journalists and media activists supporting Palestine.

In this context, Iranian journalists and media activists have been a significant target of France’s efforts to suppress pro-Palestinian voices.

In this regard, Bashir Biazar, a media activist arrested in France for posting content condemning the Israeli regime’s crimes, spoke to Mizan, detailing the dimensions of this issue.

Biazar noted that the French government’s actions against pro-Palestinian supporters have intensified across various domains. He stated: “France has historically had close ties with the Israeli regime, but these ties intensified after the onset of the Israeli regime’s war on Gaza in October 2023, leading to unprecedented crackdowns on pro-Palestinian supporters, including university professors, students, journalists, and freelance journalists active in advocating for Palestinian rights.”

He added that the French government has targeted a significant number of journalists, students, and professors for supporting Palestine, noting: “The arrests of myself, Mahdieh Esfandiari, and Shahin Hazami were particularly sensitive due to our Iranian nationality.”

France’s inhumane treatment of Mahdieh Esfandiari

Biazar highlighted that Mahdieh Esfandiari was arrested in her home on March 10, 2025 in an inhumane manner, which could be described as akin to abduction. He explained: “After Esfandiari’s disappearance, her family grew worried when their calls went unanswered. Two or three days later, her friends visited her home, but no one answered the door.”

According to Biazar, they sought help from the fire department to open the door, only to find the house in disarray and Esfandiari absent.

He continued: “There was no news of Esfandiari until the French Newspaper Le Point reported her arrest. In the past two months, French authorities have not informed Esfandiari of the charges leading to her arrest. They have not allowed her a single phone call or visit with her family, blocked her access to legal and consular support from Iran’s embassy in Paris, and her family still has no contact with her. France’s treatment is medieval.”

Why was Hazami arrested?

Introducing the latest case of arrests of pro-Palestinian journalists in France, Biazar said: “The manner of Shahin Hazami’s arrest was extremely bizarre. Ten masked police officers broke into Hazami’s home on Tuesday morning, entered the house, and arrested him.”

He added that they vandalized Hazami’s home, arrested him in an inhumane manner, and took him away, all in front of his wife and two children.

Biazar noted that France had taken similar action against Mahdieh Esfandiari, a researcher at the University of Lyon and a Palestine supporter, emphasizing: “Hazami is a journalist, and France has treated a journalist in this manner.”

France’s unsuccessful attempt to control the pro-Palestinian public sphere

Explaining France’s objectives behind these harsh actions against pro-Palestinian journalists and activists, Biazar said: “France has a strong Muslim community, with a significant portion of Europe’s Muslim population residing in the country. Over the past year, these individuals have expanded their anti-Zionist and anti-genocide activities. For the past year, almost without interruption, weekly demonstrations in support of Palestine and Gaza have been held in Paris.”

He asserted: “In my view, France’s goal with these arrests is to control the growing anti-Zionist sentiment in Europe, particularly in France, by imposing costs on activists and supporters of Palestine and Gaza.”

He emphasized the need for media efforts to highlight France’s actions in arresting Iranian pro-Palestinian supporters, stating: “Media outlets must address not only the inhumane and anti-human rights behavior of France during these arrests but also the illegality of these detentions. In my case, Esfandiari’s, and Hazami’s, there should have been a summons and formal charges, but none of the judicial or legal procedures were followed.”

Biazar added: “They detained me for a month, and during that time, they never once asked if I accepted the charges against me. They didn’t even give me a chance to defend myself.”

France’s approach to suppressing the Palestinian voice has a reverse effect

The media activist also addressed the impact of France’s actions against pro-Palestinian supporters, stating: “The reality is that the climate of fear and intimidation created by the French government through these arrests and actions has only temporary and short-term effects. This means that activists and supporters of Palestine may temporarily scale back their activities to avoid similar incidents, but in the long term, these actions have had no effect.”

He noted that the series of demonstrations held across France, including in Paris, have seen exponential growth in participation since the start of the Israeli regime’s war on Gaza. “France’s approach to suppressing the voices of Gaza and Palestine is, in fact, having the opposite effect,” he said.

Biazar emphasized: “France is struggling against the tide of public opinion. For the first time in France, accurate information about the genocide in Gaza is being disseminated, and the French are confronting the genocide in Palestine. For decades, France tried to hide the Israeli regime’s crimes from its public, but over the past one or two years, Palestinians in Gaza have provided precise information.”

He added that Palestinians, despite restrictions, are now using small media tools as “human media” to publish news of the genocide and reach European and French audiences, stating: “The French government tried to counter this information flow with arrests, but they’ve realized it’s too late.”

Biazar noted that the arrests of pro-Palestinian activists and supporters have also been covered by French media and gained attention, putting the French government in a position where it must defend or explain its actions. “The basis of these arrests was illegal, so there’s no explanation for them. As a result, France has not only failed to achieve its planned objectives but has also amplified the Palestinian cause, engaging the French public and public opinion even more,” he said.

In conclusion, the media activist stated that following these arrests, such as his own, the French public has raised questions like: “What was the reason for the arrest? Why should someone be detained simply for supporting Palestine?” He added: “The French government has no answers. In my case, the charges referred to posts I published or shared on social media in support of Palestine. Even the French themselves don’t believe this.”