The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) announced on Friday that it has lodged a complaint in Finland, Denmark and Norway against an IDF soldier alleging war crimes. A similar complaint was made in Sweden against the soldier and the HRF said he may attempt to cross borders into neighboring countries. We call on the authorities of those countries to prevent the soldiers attempt to escape justice," the fund said in its complaint.
There are reports nearly on a daily basis now, of IDF soldiers in danger of arrest and prosecution for war crimes, when abroad. Only the countries they are, have changed.
The pro-Palestinian organization has already led to an IDF soldier having to escape Brazil, it had lodged complaints in Chile, Argentina, and Thailand. The two men who established HRF are natives of Lebanon who now reside in Belgium and according to reports on Friday, one had been ousted from his political party and the other said in a post, that he would not be deterred from going after IDF soldiers.
The Hind Rajab Foundation is an offshoot of the March 30 movement established by Palestinians in Europe at the start of the war. It was named after a Palestinian six year old girl who the founders claimed was killed by the IDF when traveling in a car, on January 29, 2024, with her family.
The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs published a report with details about its founders, Dyab Abou Jahjah and Karim Hassoun.
Abou Jahjah was borne in the South Lebanon town of Hanin and said he had joined Hezbollah in his youth, to fight Israel and had received military training. He was granted Belgium citizenship in 1996, after marrying a citizen of the country, whom he later divorced. In an article published over 20 years ago, he was described as a Palestinian Malcolm X in the Muslim migrant community.
Video allegedly shared by IDF soldier in Gaza
In 2000, Abou Jahjah founded "The Arab European League" (AEL) that was active in Belgium and the Netherlands to promote Arab nationalism, Nasserism, and anti-Zionism and the stated aim of “facilitating the integration of Muslims in Europe”, according to the ministry's report.
He described the 9/11/2001 terror attacks in the United States as "Sweet revenge." A Dutch court fined the AEL in 2010 for publishing a cartoon claiming Jews provoked the Holocaust.
Abou Jahjah was involved in complaints lodged against Israel in Belgium. In 2002 he participated in a suit against then prime minister Ariel Sharon, accusing him of war crimes and involvement in the Sabra and Shatila massacre of Palestinians in Beirut during the First Lebanon War. A year later, he was barred from entry to the UK over his extreme views.
Over the years Abou Jahjah published many articles in the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Akhbar newspaper in Lebanon, where he expressed his support for Hamas and Hezbollah. During the war, he initiated complaints against an IDF soldier who has Dutch citizenship, along with other members of the IDF, accusing them of war crimes. Lat in 2023, he called on his followers on social media, to identify IDF soldiers who hold European citizenship, to advance legal action against them.
In a long post last week, Abou Jahjah wrote " When I decided to pursue justice against Israeli war criminals, I understood the consequences…My resolve remains unchanged. After witnessing this genocide, there is no turning back. In the face of such grave injustice, the perpetrators must be held accountable. Justice is the only path forward—not revenge, not violence, but justice through the courts of law."
Karim Hassoun the second founder of HRF was also born in Lebanon and is currently a resident of Belgium. He has been chairman of the AEL since 2005. In an interview he gave in 2009 he said the chances that his organization would recognize Israel were as good as the chance that Osama Bin Laden would become president of the United States. "We will never recognize a racist colonialist country," he said.
On October 8, 2023, just one day after the Hamas massacre he said in a post that the Palestinians did not invade Israel, they simply returned home to claim their property. When asked if he would condemn Hamas after the massacre, he said he condemned the group for not taking 500 or 1,000 hostages instead of only 200.
Hassoun was elected to the Willebroek city council in the province of Antwerp. But ended up not serving on the council after demands from the local Jewish community.
The European Jewish Agency (EJA) praised the decision to ban Hassoun from the council because of his support for Hamas and Hezbollah. "He imports antisemitism into the streets of Europe," the EJA envoy and Belgium member of parliament Michael Freilich. Hassoun was eventually ousted from his political faction, to allow the city council coalition to be established.