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TOP FRENCH JEWISH LEADERSHIP ON SOLIDARITY MISSION IN ISRAEL PRESIDENT OF JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN FRANCE: I ASKED CHIRAQ TO ADOPT A BALANCED MID-EAST POLICY NAZI HUNTER SERGE KLARSFELD WHO CAME WITH MISSION: "BLAMING ISRAEL REDUCES FEELINGS OF GUILT FOR SHOAH" FOR EUROPEANS France's top Jewish leadership visited Israel this week on a solidarity and fact-finding mission. The board of directors of the "CRIF" (le Conseil repr?sentatif des institutions juives de France), the umbrella organization of French Jewish organizations, chaired by its newly-elected president, Parisian banker and philanthropist Roger Cukierman and its vice-president Zvi Amar of Marseilles, met with Israel's President Katsav, Prime Minister Sharon, Former Prime Minister Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Peres, Deputy Foreign Minister for Diaspora Affairs Melchior, and M.K. Meridor, as well as with experts in military and political affairs. During the visit, Cukierman told the Global Agenda that French Jewish organizations stand by Israel. In the short period of time that he has been in office, Cukierman met with French President Chiraq, Pime Minister Jospin and Foreign Minister V?drine and asked them to adopt a balanced Middle East policy. He said that France was holding Israel to standards that it did not demand of other countries. Cukierman cited the following as examples of a lack of balance : Israel, in spite of a large Francophone population has been denied entry into the Organisation mondiale de la Francophonie (the association of nations with French-speaking populations) financed by the French taxpayer, while other nations, with a fraction of Israel's Francophones, have been admitted; the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to sell Israel tear gas launchers which Israel requested, yet criticized Israel for not having used such non-lethal means in combating the Palestinian violence; the French consulate in Jerusalem holds two different Bastille Day celebrations - one for Jews and one for Arabs. Cukierman fears that Assad and Arafat would transform the present Palestinian violence into a war of religions on French soil, the harbinger of which was the recent wave of attacks on Jewish synagogues and communal institutions. For this reason he believes in expanding the dialogue with France's Moslem community which numbers five million (most of North-African descent) many of whom identify with the Palestinians. He is also concerned by the tendency of civil rights organizations to transform their objectives into fighting on behalf of the Palestinians. Veteran Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, who participated in the CRIF mission, said that an unholy alliance has been formed between the extreme French antisemitic right and the Maghrebian elements of French society in condemning Israel. He believes that it is more expedient to condemn Zionism or Israel than Jews. In addition to reasons of monetary interest, which is often tied to Arab sources; many Europeans, by condemning Israel for her treatment of Palestinians, reduce their guilt feelings for the Shoah. Though the CRIF does conduct information campaigns in the media, it is difficult to fight the TV images. Klarsfeld believes that the historical perspective of the new generation of journalists is often limited, and says that at times encounters bad faith or built-in prejudice on their part. These drawbacks sevely limit hasbarah efforts. |
