Wiesenthal Centre to French Interior Minister: Jewish Doctors and Medical Staff Targeted by Anti-Vaccine Antisemites

Paris – In a letter to French InteriorMinister, Gerald Darmanin, Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed disgust at a campaign against French Jewish Doctors reminiscent of medievalcharges of poisoning wells, their 1940's arrests by Vichy. France and Stalin's 1951 to 1953 "Killer Jewish Doctor's Plot" against the Soviet Union

The newspaper Liberation noted the extreme-right Youtube channel "Qui" ("Who"). The "Who" became clearer in interviewsof Parisians at the "Anti-Vac" Saturday marches across France.. They revealed the "Qui" – without the mention of "Jew" – "the 'Who' controls the media...the word Covid is Hebrew...itis in the Talmud etc."

The letter charged:"Mr. Minister, the anti-vaccine cause in France is being hijacked for Jew-hatred."

The Centre called on Minister Darmanin to close down the "Qui" channel. "Despite President Macron's pleas, anti-vaccination is,though misguided, a legal right. However, when it becomes a vector for antisemitism and endangers Jewish doctors, it is a hate-crime under French law, which must be invoked," arguedSamuels.

"Mr. Minister, French Jewish doctors and those thought to be Jewish by the hatemongers must be protected. The irony is thatthe antisemites may one day be saved by a doctor who happens to be Jewish. We await your response to this outrage," 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 memberfamilies in 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).