French court has ordered the release of Palestinian terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Abdallah, sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of U.S. military attaché Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yakov Barsimantov, is to be freed on the condition that he immediately leaves France.
Both murders were carried out in 1982. On January 28, Abdallah ambushed Lt. Col. Ray as he left his home and headed to his car, shooting him in the head. On March 31, the same year, Yakov Barsimantov was shot in the lobby of his building, in front of his young daughter. Two years later, French authorities arrested Abdallah, and in 1987, he was convicted of organising these murders and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Abdallah has never admitted guilt for these acts of terrorism nor expressed any remorse for these or other crimes he has been linked to. Despite this, French authorities have previously attempted to release him. In 2013, they faced a backlash from Israel and the U.S., which pressured Interior Minister Manuel Valls to overturn the court’s decision. However, it seems unlikely that a similar intervention will happen now. France’s government has changed significantly since 2013, and the outrage of Jerusalem and Washington appears to carry little weight.
The timing of Abdallah’s potential release is particularly troubling. The U.S. has elected Donald Trump as president—a leader with a well-known skepticism towards European allies. Meanwhile, Israel is locked in a difficult war against the terrorist organisations Hamas and Hezbollah, with the PFLP aligning with these Islamist groups. By releasing a high-ranking terrorist, France is essentially insulting its allies while signalling approval to Middle Eastern extremists.
France’s handling of terrorist organisations follows a disturbingly familiar pattern. One need only recall its dealings with the Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), an ally of the PFLP and other Palestinian factions. ASALA committed numerous attacks targeting Turkish diplomats, businessmen, and others, leading to innocent casualties. During its peak from 1975 to 1985, ASALA operated across Europe, including in France.
One of ASALA’s deadliest attacks occurred on July 15, 1983, at Paris Orly Airport. Four explosive devices were planted in luggage at the Turkish Airlines counter. The powerful explosions killed eight people, including four French citizens, one Swede, and one American. Fifty-five others were injured.
French authorities arrested Varoujan Garabedian, a Syrian Armenian and leader of ASALA’s French branch, who admitted to planting the bombs. During the investigation, he revealed the devices were intended to detonate mid-flight, which would have caused far greater casualties. However, the timer malfunctioned, leading to an explosion at the airport.
Garabedian later retracted his confession during the trial and, like Abdallah, showed no remorse. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. While in prison, the Armenian diaspora campaigned for his release. In 2001, leveraging changes in legislation, his lawyers secured a pardon. The court considered his good behaviour, ASALA’s dissolution, and Armenia’s willingness to accept him. When Garabedian arrived in Yerevan, he was welcomed as a hero. He passed away in 2019.
Garabedian’s case mirrors the Abdallah situation. Terrorists commit heinous crimes on French soil, resulting in French casualties. Authorities investigate, hold a grand trial, and sentence them appropriately—only to release them years later. Abdallah’s case, however, is even more infamous. Unlike Garabedian, Abdallah has never offered reparations or shown regret, yet he has become a hero for France’s leftists, who label him a “political prisoner.”
This practice mocks justice and fairness. By repeatedly bending to short-term interests, French authorities undermine fundamental principles of counterterrorism and pander to extremists. Releasing unrepentant terrorists makes terrorism a lucrative endeavour. This is especially ironic for a country that has suffered more from terrorism than any other in Europe, if one recalls the attacks in Nice and Paris’s Bataclan theatre. Meanwhile, France risks damaging its relationships with nations that should be its true allies in combating terrorism and extremism. This is nothing less than an attempt to appease the crocodile, hoping to be eaten last.
