Wiesenthal Centre to French President: “Condemn Ambassadors Outrageous 'Le Monde' Call to Save Palestinian State.”

February 9, 2016

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE-EUROPE
Tel.: +33(0)1 47 23 76 37
Fax: +33(0)1 47 20 84 01
Email: csweurope@gmail.com

“They dare to call for a coalition on behalf of Palestinians based on the format of the international coalition against Daesh (ISIS).”

“Had these eleven petitioners appeared in their own names, they could plead freedom of expression. By invoking their influence as 'French Ambassadors', they implicate the Republic and must thus be condemned for misrepresentation.”

Paris, 9 February 2016

In a letter to President François Hollande, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed outrage at “a letter published in 'Le Monde' of 3 February from eleven former French Ambassadors, entitled 'Paris and Brussels Must Act to Save the Palestinian State'.”

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Samuels continued:

“- They dare to call for a coalition on behalf of the Palestinians based on the format of the international coalition against Daesh
(Arabic for ISIS).

- They view the principle of two States as based on the 1947 U.N. Partition Resolution, which was accepted by the Jews but blown asunder by the aggression of seven Arab armies against the nascent Jewish State. This resulted, until 1967, in occupation of the West Bank by Jordan and the Gaza Strip by Egypt.”

The letter claimed that “their following statements seem to be a reflection of the notorious antisemitic forgery, 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion', and present the Jews as responsible for the current wave of terrorism in France and Europe:

- 'The Palestinian Question, while a subject of dissent with the Arab-Muslim world, is used against the West by religious extremists.'

- 'The next United States President is indebted by electoral interests to Israeli positions... Europe... is inhibited by the shadow of the Shoah and the power of lobbies...”

Samuels stressed that “their discriminatory,illegal under French law, BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions)-style punitive platform urges without delay:

- the suspension of the Association Agreement between Israel and the European Union

- 'rendering dormant economic and scientific cooperation which benefits Israel'.”

The Centre was shocked that, “exceeding even the recent musing of Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, these 'Ambassadors' call for “the immediate recognition by France of a Palestinian State... if possible with Great Britain and the Mediterranean countries (Spain, Italy, Greece).” The Centre further expressed its disbelief to President Hollande that “these demands are consonant with French policy.”

“If, indeed, they are not, we urge an immediate Elysée statement that this cabal is harming the good name of France in its aim to damage relations between Paris and Jerusalem,” deplored Samuels.

The letter warned, “above all, their tribune for conspiracy theories claiming Jewish control of terror in France, and lobbies in the United States and Europe, further endangers the Jews of France.”

The Centre insisted that, “had these eleven petitioners appeared in their own names, they could plead freedom of expression. By invoking their influence as 'French Ambassadors', they implicate the Republic and must thus be condemned for misrepresentation.”

“To remain silent would leave the perception that, perhaps after all, they reflect French policy, which – for the friends of France – would be unthinkable,” concluded Samuels.

For further information please contact Shimon Samuels 00 33 609 770 158. join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

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 international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

Attached: list of the “Ambassadors”