July 19, 2004

France: Sharon unwelcome after call on Jews to immigrate

France informed Israel Monday that Prime Minister Sharon, whose office has been planning a visit to France, is not welcome in light of his call to French Jews to immigrate to Israel.

Iraeli diplomatic officials said that Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, French President Jacques Chirac's personal diplomatic advisor, spoke to Israeli diplomat Jacques Revah and informed him that as a result of Sharon's call to French Jewry to leave France, "there is no reason to see Sharon."
...[...]
Sharon, during a speech to the leadership of the United Jewish Communities on Sunday, called on France's 600,000 Jews to immigrate to Israel "immediately."

"If I have to advocate to our brothers in France, I would tell them one thing: move to Israel, as early as possible," Sharon said, in response to a question about anti-Semitism in France and in Europe.

Sharon's comments came a week after a 23-year-old woman shocked France by first claiming she was the victim of an anti-Semitic incident on a train, and then admitting that she made the whole thing up.

Although this particular woman was not attacked, in the first six months of 2004 there were - according to French Foreign Ministry statistics - 135 physical attacks against Jews. By comparison, in all of 2003 there were 127 such attacks.

This French diplomatic slap follows the persistence of the French in having talks with the PA and Arafat, over the protestations of the Israeli government and her allies, like the US and Italy, and France's willingness to back anti-Israel and pro-Paleostinian resolutions in the UN and anti-Israeli and pro-PA judgements in the ICJ and EU.
Given the horrifying rise in attacks on French Jews and their property since the Intifada began in 2000, you can't blame PM Sharon for encouraging his fellow Jews to move to the Jewish homeland where they will be safer.
In the light of French bellicosity, rudeness and intransigence to both the USA and now Israel, I can only conclude that France is once again in bed with one or more of our enemies (I'm thinking Soddy Arabia or Iran or perhaps both.).
We do indeed live in interesting and terrible times.