SWC Commends French Interior Minister for Banning Islamist Group in France

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre-France expressed its satisfaction at French Interior Minister Claude Gueant's announcement of the prohibition and dissolution of the Islamist ForsaneAlizza group.

The Centre's President, Richard Odier, noted, "These steps followed a legal suit against the group brought by the BNVCA - the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Antisemitism -which is sponsored by the Wiesenthal Centre."

Forsane Alizza was founded in 2010, and charges were already brought against them a few weeks later for their occupation of McDonalds in the city of Limoges, where theydistributed anti-Semitic materials calling for "the boycott of the fast-food chain" which they claimed, "is a partner of the United Jewish Appeal and the Jewish Federation."

The Appeals Court condemned the group's leader, Mohammed Achamlane, to 4 months jail and a 2,000 euro fine.

The latter had called for "burning the French Criminal Code as none of its articles protected Muslims", to cries of "Allahu Akbar" from the Court's gallery.

The Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon
Samuels, called for "this legal victory against Forsane Alizza to be promptly applied to the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement and all other organizations that abusefreedom of expression to incite to a hatred that ultimately ends in anti-Semitic pogroms, as last week in Toulouse."

BNVCA President, Sammy Ghozlan added, "Any further boycott actions by the members of the banned Forsane Alizza group could now face a three year prison sentence and a 45,000 eurofine under the law of 10 January 1936."

"The Centre and the BNVCA have raised their monitoring level - in accord with the French Government - to Code Red", concluded Samuels and Ghozlan.

For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels at +33 (0) 609770158, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthalfor news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO atinternational agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).
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