The Georges Ibrahim Abdallah Case
by Hassan Hamadé
Our friend and collaborator, Hassan Hamadé, who participated in Bishop Hilarion Cappuci’s mediation for the release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, bears witness here to the struggle of this Lebanese activist for the Palestinian cause.
Voltaire Network | Beirut (Lebanon) | 9 September 2025
Georges Ibrahim Abdallah
The iconic activist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah spent 41 years in solitary confinement in French prisons, accused of crimes of which he is completely innocent.
His case was the victim of massive judicial, political, and media falsification, orchestrated by the French authorities and the country’s political forces. He was presented before a totally conditioned jury, deaf to the cries, moans and tears of the relatives of the victims of the 1986 Paris attacks, and he was told: "Let this ’justice’ speak for itself, it is faithful to the motto of the Republic: Liberty - Equality - Fraternity."
The situation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is reminiscent of that of the early Christians whom the Roman imperial authorities threw into the arena of the Colosseum to starving beasts... to the applause of the audience.
This is exactly what happened to the Lebanese-Palestinian activist, nationalist, internationalist, and profoundly humane defender of the oppressed of the earth, Mr. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
The French authorities arrested him in 1984, following the assassination of two diplomats—one American and one Israeli—in Paris in 1982: Charles Ray, deputy military attaché at the United States Embassy, and Yaakov Bar-Simentov, second counselor at the Israeli Embassy.
Georges has no connection with these two cases. He naturally denied any responsibility, asserting that he would never deny an act he had actually committed, especially if guided by moral and political principles. The investigators discovered in him a type of man they had never encountered: extremely polite, gentle as silk, but hard as steel. From the outset, he told them that, for him, these assassinations were part of the legitimate resistance struggle. It was a way of saying, "It would be an honor, but it’s not me."
The guardians of "justice," their superiors, and those who manipulate them behind the scenes then understood that this kind of honest, upright, and unwavering revolutionary had to be destroyed. So they decided to flout the law, falsely accuse him, and throw him in a cell for life, to make an example of him. For he is indomitable.
They understood one thing: he knew them better than they understood him. This gave them an inferiority complex, reinforced by the clarity of his commitment, the strength of his will, and the subtlety of his feelings. A "strange" being, they said...
The Paris Attacks – 1986
Explosions were multiplying in Paris. It was 1986. They said: this man must be linked to the revolutionary organization responsible for these attacks… And even if there was no proof of his involvement, what did it matter! These accusations would be pinned on him, circumventing the law, to prevent Georges Abdallah from escaping the clutches of Zionism. The law alone is not enough. It must be trampled underfoot.
It is enough to recall here the horribly manipulative role of the French media in shaping public opinion. They gave a facade of legitimacy to a form of "popular justice" reminiscent of the dark hours of the French Revolution—the mother of all bloody revolutions—a street justice that imposed its sentence on the courts. And the streets echoed with the cries of the victims and their families, following the rhythm dictated by the Zionist propaganda that the media disseminated without filter.
Thus, the cases were deliberately confused in the minds of an indoctrinated public. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah found himself at the heart of all the accusations, at the center of the arena. Police hounding, harassment, and suspicion began to stifle foreigners, judged by the color of their skin. Blatant racial segregation took hold in the streets and public places. State terrorism—official and organized—took over. Political parties, their leaders, and their associations then engaged in a despicable bidding war. Whoever most loudly accused the "enemy of humanity," Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, scored points in the political battle.
Georges, "Enemy of Humanity"
At the time, the red lines between East and West were beginning to fall. The Soviet Union, with Mikhail Gorbachev at the helm of the Communist Party, was undertaking major structural reforms, the famous perestroika, accompanied by glasnost ("transparency"). These reforms would precipitate the collapse of the USSR and its entire system of alliances.
At the same time, wars were raging:
• In Afghanistan, where the West gave full support to the mujahideen against the Soviet army that had invaded the country in late 1979. Arab funds financed this military effort. Western media praised these "freedom" fighters, while warlords such as Ahmad Shah Massoud—nicknamed the "Lion of Panjshir"—were hailed as heroes by the Parisian press. The Islamic religion of the mujahideen did not bother the West at all as long as the call to jihad was aimed at the USSR and not the West.
• At the same time, the Iran-Iraq War, triggered in 1980 by Saddam Hussein’s attack on Iran, was in full swing. The entire West rallied behind Baghdad, financing it, arming it, and supervising its campaigns, with financial support from the Gulf. Iran had committed the "unforgivable": breaking with Israel, positioning itself as the leader of anti-Zionism, and transforming the Israeli embassy in Tehran into the Palestinian embassy. It had to be punished: this was the "Qadisiyah Saddam" campaign. In this context, the Anglo-Saxons reignited the 1,400-year-old Sunni-Shiite conflict, a conflict they knew would be promising for their interests.
The Qadisiyah Saddam, the superyacht that President Saddam Hussein had built to compete with his Saudi friends.
Cultural Insult to the West and Political Submission
Thus, every war had its "jihad," every struggle its "mujahideen." This jihad relied on two contradictory yet intertwined pillars: cultural hostility toward the West and, at the same time, political dependence on it. A schizophrenia fueled by the West itself.
Parallel to Afghanistan and the Gulf, Israel launched its war against Lebanon (1982) and reached Beirut, provoking the emergence of resistance to the occupation. Thus emerged the Joumhouriyat al-Muqawama al-Wataniyya al-Lubnaniyya ("Lebanese National Resistance Front"), then Hezbollah, which emerged from the Amal movement, founded by Imam Moussa Sadr, who mysteriously disappeared after being betrayed by his own people. Hezbollah quickly became one of the most powerful resistance forces in the world, close to Iran.
Georges, Symbol of These Struggles
Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is the product of all these intertwined contexts, with Palestine as his backbone.
Then came the violent attacks in the heart of Paris, which highlighted the unhealthy role of the French political class in this "macabre game." Both sides sought to exploit this major security crisis in the struggle for power, pitting a hard right against a socialist left entirely subservient to Israel.
In 1986, François Mitterrand completed the first half of his term (which had begun in 1981). But after the defeat of the Socialists and Communists in the 1986 legislative elections, executive power shifted to the right: Jacques Chirac once again became Prime Minister.
France then entered the "cohabitation" phase, with a socialist president and a right-wing prime minister, strongly hostile to the president. The Constitution of the Fifth Republic, tailor-made for Charles de Gaulle, effectively gave the Prime Minister the reins of executive power for domestic affairs, limiting the president’s role to diplomacy and defense.
The attacks of December 1985 and September 1986 became the most sensitive security issue. Mitterrand and Chirac were already vying for the 1988 presidential election, each supported by powerful financial and diplomatic networks, including in the Arab world.
Georges: Hostage to French Political Maneuvers
The Georges Ibrahim Abdallah case then became a central issue in French political rivalries and escalation, exploited by each camp. And in both cases, it was the powerful and cross-party Zionist lobby that pulled the strings. This lobby has long controlled decision-making centers in France and operates across partisan divides.
Its agenda is clear: to maintain French society in a state of permanent mobilization against Palestine and against anyone—citizen, intellectual, activist, or artist—who shows any sympathy for the Palestinian cause. It is no coincidence that real power in France shifted from republican institutions to financial houses in a silent coup d’état orchestrated in January 1973.
On that date, President Georges Pompidou, a former director of the Rothschild bank, and his Finance Minister, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, discreetly passed a law prohibiting the Banque de France from issuing national currency to finance the state. This power was transferred to private banks, notably the Rothschild bank, similar to what had happened in the United States in 1913. This decree was dubbed by insiders: "Pompidou-Giscard-Rothschild Law".
This shift paved the way for a financial oligarchy, facilitating the takeover of the state by private interests and reducing popular sovereignty to a sham. It should be noted in passing that the current president, Emmanuel Macron, was also an executive at Rothschild, perpetuating this tradition.
In this vein, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is perceived by Zionist circles as the living embodiment of Palestine, and therefore as a man to be brought down—not physically, but morally, politically, and judicially. He embodies what the West wants to eradicate: the dignity of resistance.
It is therefore impossible to appeal to common sense, the law, or reason in a climate where the media exploit collective emotion, where the "search for terrorists" becomes an alibi for exclusively hunting down foreigners, and primarily Muslims.
The methods of Vichy France then returned: denunciation, suspicion, and profiling. Even anti-Zionist Jews, despite their hostility to Israel, struggled to get their writings published, denouncing the similarities between the behavior of the French state and that of the Vichy regime. They were censored. Today’s French police force is sometimes reminiscent, in its zeal, of the police that hunted down rebellious Jews alongside the Gestapo.
In this context, political escalation reached new heights. The Socialist Party did not hesitate to fan the flames, hoping to bring down the right-wing government, thus ensuring Mitterrand’s re-election and the return to power of his networks.
Imam Ruhollah Khomeini and Bishop Hillarion Capucci.
The Use of Archbishop Capucci – Mediation and State Duplicity
Faced with an explosive security situation and fearing that it would destroy his chances in the 1988 presidential elections, Jacques Chirac and his political entourage decided, based on intelligence reports, that a solution had to be sought... abroad. More precisely, they designated an "official enemy" of France—Syria—as paradoxically the only one capable of curbing the organizations mentioned in the security reports.
But at that time, Franco-Syrian relations were at their lowest point since the independence struggles of the 1940s. It was therefore necessary to find a mediator respected by all, capable of speaking to Syria while maintaining a certain proximity to the West. The choice fell on Mgr Hilarion Capucci, former archbishop of Jerusalem, exiled in Rome, known for his commitment to the Palestinian cause, respected in Tehran, Damascus and the Maghreb, and already recognized for having led a successful mediation between Tehran and Washington regarding the American hostages, by personally handing over the bodies of the soldiers killed during the aborted operation in Tabas to the Red Cross in Geneva.
One evening, the phone rang in Archbishop Capucci’s humble apartment in Rome. On the other end:
"I am Robert Pandraud, Minister of Security of the French Republic."
After a few polite exchanges, the minister got to the heart of the matter:
"The Paris attacks, the assassinations, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the threat of further bloodshed... The Republic is counting on you to save lives."
The Archbishop, true to his principles, accepted the mediation. He immediately called two of his close collaborators (including the author of this text):
"Tomorrow at 1 p.m., I land at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Be there. Details tomorrow."
The next day, at the airport, Archbishop Capucci did not leave with the passengers. After a long wait, a security guard approached:
"You’re waiting for Monsignor, aren’t you?" He’s already in Paris. He’ll call you."
Around 8:00 p.m., the call came. Bishop Capucci had been discreetly escorted to a private residence. He declined the offer to stay in the honorary residence, preferring to stay in a modest apartment. He then declared:
— "We are a team of three. And tomorrow, I will ask Ministers Charles Pasqua and Robert Pandraud to authorize me to visit Georges Ibrahim Abdallah in prison, a prerequisite for any serious mediation between Paris and Damascus. After what I experienced with the Americans, I no longer trust verbal promises."
The next day, Minister Pandraud, deeply embarrassed, apologized for Pasqua’s absence, allegedly detained by "affairs of state." He violently castigated the Socialist opposition, accusing them of prioritizing their electoral interests to the detriment of national security. He insisted on the confidential nature of the visit and the need for absolute secrecy to avoid the mission’s failure.
But Pasqua was again conspicuous by his absence. In reality, Pasqua had publicly promised the French that he would never negotiate with terrorists, either directly or indirectly. He feared that the revelation of this mediation would destroy the government’s credibility and sabotage his personal ambitions.
However, information about Bishop Capucci’s presence in Paris leaked to media outlets close to the Zionist lobby, causing panic within Chirac’s team. The socialist left, led by Mitterrand, seized the opportunity to accuse the government of "secretly negotiating with the terrorists responsible for the spilled French blood," going so far as to refer to Capucci as the "terrorist bishop." The attacks became virulent, and insults rained down from the second day.
Faced with this pressure, Minister Pandraud gave in and accepted the prelate’s condition: a visit to Georges Ibrahim Abdallah in La Santé prison, just a few hundred meters from Capucci’s modest apartment on Rue Arago in the 14th arrondissement of Paris.
The Meeting at La Santé Prison – Capucci and Vergès Under Georges’ Spell
Many Arab and Persian states issued stamps in honor of Archbishop Hilarion Capucci.
That day, Archbishop Capucci was escorted by protocol to La Santé Prison, in a residential neighborhood of Paris. An "accidental" incident occurred: the official cars, their lights blaring, stopped right in front of the offices of the Gamma agency, one of the largest photo and TV agencies in the world. The journalists there saw with their own eyes Archbishop Capucci get into the car.
A "mistake" that wasn’t one. Zionists infiltrating the Pasqua-Pandraud offices had deliberately orchestrated this security breach, thus adding fuel to the media fire. The controversy exploded: the right was allegedly making deals with extremist groups, despite its promises.
Despite this, the meeting between Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and Bishop Capucci took place. Two fighters for the same cause: Palestine.
Before meeting, they exchanged a few words in writing, then, face to face, they spoke in hushed voices, due to two risks:
1. The presence of sophisticated listening devices.
2. Cameras capable of reading lips—a technique Bishop Capucci had learned about during the meeting between Pope John Paul II and Mehmet Ali Ağca at the Roman prison of Rebibbia.
Upon leaving, Bishop Capucci was devastated. He declared to his close friends:
"Georges is innocent. Innocent. Innocent. He is one of the most exceptional personalities I have ever met. He left a deep impression on me."
On the government side, the Chirac-Pasqua duo realized they were losing their footing. The situation was getting out of hand, and the political manipulation was turning against them.
Clear-sighted observers of the time saw the full vileness of the Western political class, ready to trample on the law, fundamental rights, and moral principles in the name of partisan or financial interests. No scruples. No loyalty. Even the nation’s strategic interests could be sacrificed on the altar of personal ambitions.
Mr. Jacques Vergès and his client and friend, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah
Cascading Betrayals – French Duplicity Revealed
A revealing fact: Roland Dumas, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and personal friend of Bishop Capucci—he had even participated in his defense during his trial in Israel—refused to support the mediation. Why? Because he wanted to ensure François Mitterrand’s re-election, so that he could become a minister himself again. He thus betrayed both his friend Capucci and his own principles.
As for Jacques Vergès, one of the most famous criminal lawyers of the 20th century, he agreed to defend Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. He, too, was deeply affected by the latter. He once declared to Capucci and the author of this text:
"We are not dealing with institutions or governments. They are mafias. And the presidential opposition (the Socialist Party) is ready to shed rivers of blood if it serves its interests."
Another episode confirms this: Yves Bonnet, former director of the DST (domestic intelligence), told the journalist Bassam Kantar that he had reached an agreement with the head of Algerian intelligence, Lakhal Ayat, to secure the release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. But upon his return to France, his superiors abruptly disavowed him:
"No. The agreement is null and void. Forget it."
All this illustrates the extent to which the Georges Abdallah case is a textbook case of injustice and state manipulation. Those who crossed his path loved, admired, and respected him.
And yet, for more than 25 years, the United States Department of State systematically pressured the French justice system to prevent his release, thus trampling, once again, on the separation of powers in the "homeland of human rights and enlightenment."
Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is paying—still today—the price for his dignity and his commitment to Palestine. He keeps the cause alive through the nobility of his positions, and he is, during his lifetime, a martyr.
The French Envoy to Hafez al-Assad – Organized Sabotage
At this point, the French leadership acted as if the national interest mattered little to them.
They first tried to convince Archbishop Capucci to go to Damascus to ask President Hafez al-Assad to intervene to "curb extremist organizations" linked to Palestine. But the archbishop categorically refused and told Minister Pandraud:“What guarantee do I have that you will keep your commitments to Assad if he ever reaches out to you? I have learned to no longer trust verbal promises. The Americans swore to me the earth during the Tehran hostage crisis, in exchange for mediation with Imam Khomeini. And yet, they lied and betrayed. Even after the Iranians demonstrated good faith by handing over to me the remains of the soldiers killed in the Tabas operation. It is up to you, Frenchmen, to go to Damascus. And stop insulting it publicly if you are seeking to negotiate secretly.”
Capucci set a firm condition:
"Your emissary must be a high-ranking, respected, and influential minister."
But invisible forces, acting behind the scenes, proposed appointing Michel Aurillac, Minister of Cooperation, as special envoy. A maneuver clearly intended to derail the mission. Because, in Syria, it would have been immediately understood that a minister for French overseas colonies carried no weight. Assad’s reaction would have been explosive. And the diplomatic initiative sabotaged.
Vergès: "We are facing a mafia system"
During a confidential dinner bringing together Bishop Capucci, Jacques Vergès, Sarkis Abou Zeid, and the author of this text, Vergès uttered this chilling sentence:
"The Zionists are present in every aspect of the French state.
We are dealing with gangs, not states." The presidential opposition is ready to erupt the streets of Paris in torrents of blood if it serves its nefarious purposes.
And events would prove him right.
Provisional Conclusion
The Georges Ibrahim Abdallah case goes far beyond the framework of a forgotten political prisoner. It has become a matter of state, a moral failing, a mirror held up to the French Republic at its most shameful.
For more than 40 years, the French state, under direct pressure from the United States and the Zionist lobby, kept an innocent man behind bars. Not for what he did. But for what he embodies.
On July 17, 2025, the Paris Court of Appeal authorized his release, with immediate deportation to Lebanon. The Public Prosecutor’s Office immediately filed a non-suspensive appeal, which did not prevent his release and deportation.
Translation
Roger Lagassé