Wiesenthal Centre Outraged at AFP Whitewash of Terrorism

Paris - In a letter to Agence France Presse (AFP) Chairman and CEO, Fabrice Fries, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director forInternational Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed horror at an article that whitewashes the Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the terrorist Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)....“Yourcorrespondent enjoys the invitation to visit the ‘tunnel city’ of electric-lighted passages, ventilation and telephone system, leading from Gaza, under the barriers, to Israel.”

Samuels asserted, “the horror of the Centre’s membership, especially our French constituents, that AFP - an important global newsagency - could sink so low as to heroize a worldwide listed terrorist group, as if them were a branch of the Eurostar, under the English Channel."

The PIJ tour guide described both defensive and offensive tunnels - the second equipped with weapons used to attack Israelis. “Yourjournalist ‘'humorously'’ calls it ‘a smuggling route for Kentucky Fried Chicken’!”

The Centre continued, “we hope that this was the act, only, of an antisemitic lone-wolf, a budding militant or uneducated in thesubject"..

"Our call for an AFP, demands an investigation, condemnation and immediate dismissal of an employee unworthy of the title,‘journalist’.” concluded Samuels

For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthalfor news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

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