and its Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, called for measures "to cancel the 'IsraelApartheid' conference at the University of Paris VIII and anywhere else in France, as a provocation threatening public order and a danger to the Jewish community."
| CENTRE SIMON WIESENTHAL - EUROPE Tel:+33(0)1 47 23 76 37 Fax:+33(0)1 47 20 84 01 Samuels recalled "Guéant's welcome last November to the North American Trustees of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, where he had shared with us his commitment to combat anti-Semitism in all itsforms." The letter highlighted "the Centre's global campaign against this month's university campus 'Israel Apartheid Week', which is manipulated by an extreme-left/Islamist alliance, with supportemanating from the Middle East," adding that, "while the thrust of 'Apartheid Week' is to delegitimize and isolate the Jewish State by boycott and embargo, it is, in fact, a clear violationof the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency's Working Definition of Anti-Semitism. The EU has thereby defined the collateral threats of such measures to Jewish communities, whereverthey take place." The Centre brought to the Minister's attention that, "on 27 and 28 February, such a conference on 'New Sociological, Historical and Juridical approaches..... ' is to be held at theUniversity of Paris VIII. It is to be addressed by international coordinator of the so-called BDS (Boycott, Sanctions, Divestment) campaign, Omar Barghouti, notorious for his reportedcomparisons of Israeli policies with 'Nazi practises against Jews'." The letter continued, "these gatherings have, in the past, degenerated into attacks on synagogues (for example during the anti-Israel agitation of the 2003 European Social Forum in St.Denis) and, more recently, against supermarkets across France, at which the kosher food sections have been pillaged, thereby intimidating the Jewish community and the shopping public atlarge." Odier and Samuels noted that Guéant's predecessor, Brice Hortefeux, "in correspondence with us, had endorsed legal measures under the French Criminal Code article 225-1/2 and articles 23and 24 of the 1881 law against racial and religious discrimination"..."Indeed, we have noted that, on 7 March 2011, the Council of State upheld the refusal of a hall to the CollectifPalestine (Palestine Society) at the prestigious Paris college - The Ecole Normale Supérieure - arguing that this did not violate freedom of assembly and of expression on campus." The Centre urged the Minister "to take the necessary measures to cancel the 'Israel Apartheid' conference at the University of Paris VIII and anywhere else in France, as a provocationthreatening public order and a danger to the Jewish community." "We also suggest that foreign agitators, such as Omar Barghouti, involved in the 'Apartheid Week' programme should be denied the opportunity to abuse the hospitality of France. Alluniversity and academic debate is, certainly, at the root of French liberty on condition that it does not become a platform for invective and incitement to hatred," concluded Odier andSamuels. 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 an NGO at internationalagencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino). For further information contact Shimon Samuels at 0033609770158, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directto your Twitter page or mobile device. |