Statement of Solidarity with François Burgat

[If you would like to sign this statement, please fill out this Google form.]

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