Paris – In a letter to Miss FranceCompetition Director-General, Sylvie Tellier, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed outrage at the wave of Twitter attacks against AprilBenayoum, Miss Provence and first runner-up in Miss France 2021.
“There have been critiques of feminist organizations who consider beauty competitions as debasing to women, but this year – the MissFrance centenary – will be remembered as a sick exercise in Jew-hatred,” argued Samuels.
Miss Benayoum, in her follow-up thanks, noted, “I have an array of origins: my mother is Serbo-Croat, my father Israeli-Italian.This gave me a passion for geography and the discerning of other cultures.”
This comment won her tweets such as: “Uncle Hitler forgot to exterminate you Miss Provence.” (see photo capture)
April Benayoum (Instagram@benayoumapril) / Antisemitic tweet "Uncle Hitler forgot to exterminate you MissProvence"
Other choice examples included:
- “Miss Provence is Israeli, so those who vote for her, her mother is a prostitute!”
- “Miss Provence is linked to Israel; let’s get rid of her!”
- “Where there are Jews, it is right to have antisemitism!”
- “Tell Miss Provence that Israel doesn’t exist; it is Palestine!”
“Madam Director-General, we suggest that the Competition’s response – beside a protest to Twitter – should be its adoption ofthe IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) Definition of Antisemitism.
“We are ready to assist in bringing this tool – that has been adopted so far by the EU, France, a number of democracies worldwide,international organizations, universities, football clubs and sport federations, municipalities, administrations, private businesses and NGOs – to cleanse the filth that has sullied this MissFrance Competition,” offered the Centre.
Our message to France’s Deputy Beauty Queen, Ms. Benayoum, is from the Diary of Anne Frank: “Think of all the beauty still leftaround you and be happy!” concluded Samuels.
For further information contact Dr.Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.
The Simon WiesenthalCenter is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the UnitedNations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).
