Once pro-Algeria lobbyist, Rima Hassan exposes Algiers’ role in Sahara conflict

The political storm surrounding French LFI MEP Rima Hassan has laid bare a long-obscured truth among European leftists: Algeria is the principal architect and enforcer of the separatist narrative in the Sahara conflict.

Rima Hassan, once hailed as the voice of Palestine in European politics and an echo of Algerian positions on the Sahara, now finds herself vilified by the very regime she once championed.

Her “crime”? A single sentence posted on Instagram on August 21 when she said that the Sahara issue should never be compared to the Palestinian struggle.

This statement, seemingly simple, shattered decades of Algerian propaganda that sought to conflate the Palestinian struggle with the separatist plot it has hatched in vain in Morocco’s south. It was a rupture not just with rhetoric, but with a system that demands absolute ideological submission.

Rima Hassan’s trajectory is emblematic. During the European elections, she marched in Paris with Polisario members, keffieh around her neck, signaling her alignment with Algeria’s separatist agenda. Her first official trip as an MEP was to Algiers. She even voted against a European resolution condemning Algeria’s imprisonment of writer Boulem Sansal.

But her recent statements acknowledging historical ties between Saharan tribes and Morocco and questioning the feasibility of the referendum while highlighting Morocco’s investments in the region, marked a shift toward historical accuracy. That shift was intolerable to Algiers.

The Algerian regime responded with fury. State-aligned media accused Rima Hassan of betrayal, with Algérie Patriotique likening her to a Zionist. La Patrie News claimed she was sacrificed by Mélenchon to appease Morocco and Israel. Online trolls, the infamous “electronic flies”, launched coordinated attacks, accusing her of ingratitude and threatening to destroy her reputation.

This reaction reveals that Algeria does not merely support the Polisario, it owns the narrative. The regime’s outrage stems not from Rima Hassan’s facts, but from her refusal to perpetuate a separatist chimera in southern Morocco.

Rima Hassan’s case exposes Algeria’s central role. For decades, Algiers has denied being a party to the conflict, insisting it merely supports “self-determination.” Yet it hosts, funds, arms, and diplomatically defends the Polisario. It controls the refugee camps in Tindouf. It blocks UN efforts to reach a political solution. It has reacted to sovereign decisions by Spain and France recognizing the Sahara as part of Morocco. Now, it punishes even its allies who dare to deviate from its script.

Rima’s downfall proves that Algeria demands not solidarity, but submission. Even intellectual sympathy is not enough.