France: More Israel-bashing at the United Nations and UNESCO

The CRIF reports:

Roger Cukierman, President of the CRIF, an umbrella organization of French Jewish organizations, complained in a letter to the Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius of the hostile stance against Israel taken by the French government.

Mr. Cukierman indicated that organisations affiliated to the CRIF took a very negative view of the anti-Israel positions adopted by France at the United Nations Security Council and at UNESCO.   He stressed that while the US, Britain, Germany and Japan either oppose or abstain when resolutions hostile to Israel are voted, France is the only major democratic power to vote in favor.  

He also raised the CRIF's concern that  a terrorist such as Salah Hamouri was received at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr Cukierman deplored the zeal shown by the Ministry in the support of  resolutions hostile to Israel, including on religious matters like the one at UNESCO, which are particularly sensitive.

As importantly, he also stressed that  positions hostile to Israel feed anti-Zionist feelings which then lead straight to anti-Semitism. 

One wonders if France is really committed to combatting antisemitism.  As Prof. Robert Wistrich, the head of Hebrew University’s Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism, told the JPost:  “You have the denial, for instance, that there is any relationship between so-called criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism but, in fact, most of what goes by the name of criticism of Israel is feeding on a daily basis the growing demonization of the Jewish state, which in turn spills over I would say almost with mathematical inevitability into some form of dislike, hostility or even loathing of Jews".

Mr Cukirman is well aware of this.  And that's why so many mainly young Jews are - and will continue - leaving France..