Wiesenthal Centre Outraged at French Prosecutor on Paris Swastikas Case
Paris – Last week, Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr.Shimon Samuels, commended the Mayor of Paris, the French...
The Simon Wiesenthal Center lauded French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux for calling boycotts against Israeli products in France “ a crime”. The top French official‘s statement came inresponse to a SWC report, "Boycott Agitation against Kosher Products in Supermarkets and other Commercial Outlets across France, January 2009 - July 2010" (in cooperation with the FrenchBureau for Vigilance against Antisemitism).
In a letter to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Interior Minister Hortefeux wrote, "You have called my attention to the value of punishing the agitation of the Group "Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions"(BDS) in view of the acts of its members in certain foodstores ... Just as you, I consider the campaign led by this group and their statements made on such occassions calling for a boycott ofIsraeli products as, arguably, constituting a crime of racial provocation and discrimination...."
Dr. Shimon Samuels, Director for International Relations, based in Paris, was encouraged by Minister Hortefeux's proposal for "legal action based on racist
provocation and discrimination" against the group, ‘Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions' (BDS), adding, "We urge the investigating magistrate to alsoconsider the possible relationship of swastikas daubed on Jewish kosher product stores in Paris last week with the incitement campaign." (seephoto)
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Center's Associate Dean, commended the Minister's reaction to last week’s desecration of the Marmande memorial to the deportation and resistance near Bordeaux. MinisterHortefeux called that hate crime "a repugnant act ... an insult to the Jewish community, to France, to civilization and the values of the Republic."
“We remain deeply concerned over the continued multi-dimensional campaigns demonizing Israel and targeting the Jewish community in France,” said Rabbi Cooper. “We hope the French authorities willmove swiftly to launch legal action against the organizers of the anti-Israel boycotts and take additional steps to stop the spike in hate crimes.”
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 anNGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).
For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updatessent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.