Chirac in NY: Image of France as anti-Semitic is "wrong"

[bemildred]

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"The president reaffirmed forcefully that France is not
an anti-Semitic country, has never been so in its culture
and will never be so," Chirac's spokeswoman, Catherine
Colona, said.

While recognizing there had been attacks on synagogues an
Jewish property, Chirac said the number of incidents had fallen
to 72 in the first eight months of this year from 172 in the
same period in 2002 under his "zero tolerance" policy.

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In contrast, another Jewish group, the Anti-Defamation League,
set up to fight bigotry and anti-Semitism, is giving its Distinguished
Statesman Award at a gala dinner to Italian Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi.

Berlusconi recently claimed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini "did
not murder anyone," a comment that caused an uproar in Italy, given
that the wartime Italian fascist was responsible for the deaths of
thousands of Jews.

Haaretz

[Flying_Pig]

1. Israel appears to embrace fascists the world over.....

What ever happened to the little democratic republic of Israel, and why have her people turned their back on democracy? Supporting the likes of G.W. Bush, his cronies in PNAC, Tom DeLay, and Berlusconi, says a lot. They are embracing some of the most dispicable people on this planet.

Do they think this will bring them the peace they claim to desire? When will the people of Israel wake up to where their Likud leaders are taking them. It is a path to nothingness, ...nothing but hate, and greed, and war.

[Josh]

3. That's funny...

I never saw anything in the original post about Israel. I saw Chirac saying his country doesn't hate Jews, not that it doesn't hate Israel. It's interesting how people seem to link *all* Jews to *everything* Israel does.

[Paschall]

6. The Anti-Defamation League

...which is giving this award to Berlusconi, is an American organization.

Please amend your subject line to:

America appears to embrace fascists the world over...

[Journeyman]

2. J'Accuse. . .

L'Affaire Dreyfus. . .

[MrPrax]

5. Don't understand...

doesn't dreyfus show that the french rallied for injustice?

[wellst0nev0ter]

4. He's Right

Community Head: France No More Antisemitic Than U.S.
By MARC PERELMAN
FORWARD STAFF
The message is crystal-clear.

Point one: French society is not more antisemitic than American society. Yes, there is anti-Jewish violence in France, but nearly all of it comes from socially estranged Arab youths, inflamed by the intifada. And in France, unlike America, no Jews have been killed or seriously wounded.

Point two: American Jewish groups should mind their own business and stop casting doubts on the ability of French Jewish leaders to be forceful and efficient advocates for Jews and for Israel.

Roger Cukierman, the senior leader of the French Jewish community, is a little irritated these days. He hears some of his American counterparts complaining that the communal umbrella group he has chaired since May 2001, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, or CRIF, is not vehement enough when it comes to taking on the French authorities over antisemitism and Israel.

The criticism is ironic, Cukierman told the Forward in a wide-ranging briefing in New York last week. "When people criticize me in France, it is because I am doing too much, not because I do too little, as some here are suggesting," he said. "American Jewish organizations come to France and some interfere, and I don't think they should."

"If they want to help, they should go through us," he said.

http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.08.01/news9.html