“He has evaded justice for 38 years... longevity is not an excuse for impunity... as families of victims and survivors deserve closure.”
PARIS —bIn a letter to Norwegian Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, commended the Norwegian Police for, "Thearrest of one of the three suspects in the ‘Abu Nidal Organization’ terrorist attack of 9 August 1982 on the Goldenberg restaurant of Rue des Rosiers, in the Jewish quarter of Paris, leaving sixdead and twenty-two wounded.”..."The attack with machine guns,pistols and grenades, came at 1.15pm in a restaurant seating over fifty diners... Recent attempts to extradite to France the twoother suspects, were rebuffed by their Jordanian sanctuary."
The letter described the assault as, “The last of 73 shootings and bombings against Jewish targets across Western Europe, 29 of which in France.”
Samuels explained, “An Israeli incursion into Southern Lebanon in 1982 resulted in European terrorists and their trainers fleeing Palestinian training camps, and returning to their countries oforigin. Once home, their subsequent attacks on banks, officials and embassies led governments to crack down... In France through the Vigipirate security alert programme. Indeed, as our mentor,Simon Wiesenthal, would say, ‘What begins with the Jews does not end with them’.”
The Centre recalled how “Norway has been targetted by lone wolf terrorism, especially in the 22 July 2011 massacre in Oslo and Utoya, where 77 were killed and over 300 wounded - mostly youngpeople - by the far-right murderer Anders Behring Breivik. The families of the victims and of the survivors deserved closure through the trial that ensued.”
The Memorial plaque in Paris (europe-israel.org) and the Memorial in Oslo (tripadvisor.com/jul1407)
Samuels told of his “close friend, the late AFP correspondent, Michael Adler, who was an eyewitness to the Goldenberg restaurant massacre. He was later informed that "following the attack, a''verbal deal' was struck by French intelligence, the DST, with the Abu Nidal terrorist group: to the effect that 'they could enter France as long as there were no further attacks on Frenchsoil'. Without a reliable source, we dismissed such an outrage as, what is known today as fake news...Yet, two years ago, the 'deal' was admitted in an interview with then head of the DST,YvesBonnet."
“Walid Abdulrahman Abu Zayed has evaded justice for 38 years, evoking Simon Wiesenthal’s credo on war criminals: ‘Longevity is not an excuse for impunity’.”... The Rue des Rosiers families ofvictims and survivors deserve closure... France has requested Abu Zayed’s extradition under a European Arrest Warrant. His transfer to Paris should take only a few weeks to arrange between twofellow democracies,” argued Samuels.
The Centre urged the Prime Minister to, "Endorse this extradition and ensure that this case not become viewed as ‘Justice delayed, Justice denied’.”
The letter was shared with French President, Emmanuel Macron.
For further information, contact Dr. Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed. â¨â¨
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).
