French Eurovision contestant a ‘punching bag’ after old tweets on Israel, terror attacks resurface

France’s Eurovision Song Contest hopeful Bilal Hassani is complaining of becoming a “punching bag” after the Moroccan-origin singer drew criticism over postings online about Israel and terror attacks in France.

Hassani, 19, who was born in France to Moroccan parents, became an inspiration to LGBT teenagers last month after being picked to represent France at the Eurovision contest in May.

The youngster was accused by online critics of trivializing terrorism and making controversial remarks about Israel while he was in his early teens.

“Leave me alone, leave me in peace… I’m a human being like anyone and they take me for a punching bag,” he tells the Parisien newspaper.

A video from 2018 has surfaced in which Hassani and two friends declare “France suffered a lot, attacks here, attacks there. Oooh!” to hoots of laughter. A tweet from August 2014 in which he accused Israel — which will host the Eurovision — of a “crime against humanity” during a ground offensive in Gaza has also been shared online.

In another tweet earlier that year, which has also been resurrected, then 14-year-old Hassani appeared to defend controversial comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, a convicted anti-Semite.

Hassani tells Le Parisien that at the time of the tweets he was “young and stupid” and that other people might have posted the messages under his name.