• Together Against War in Ukraine
    Together Against War in Ukraine
  • French Festival of Jewish Films - cosponsored by Verbe et Lumière-Vigilance
    French Festival of Jewish Films - cosponsored by Verbe et Lumière-Vigilance
  • Exhibition Opening, 11 June 2014: “People, Book, Land”
    Exhibition Opening, 11 June 2014: “People, Book, Land”
  • Paris Town Hall Illumination to honour  victims of terror in Jerusalem
    Paris Town Hall Illumination to honour victims of terror in Jerusalem
  • Exhibition Opening Copenhagen
    Exhibition Opening Copenhagen
  • Dr. Shimon Samuels meeting Pope Francis
    Dr. Shimon Samuels meeting Pope Francis
  • Inauguration Place Simon & Cyla Wiesenthal
    Inauguration Place Simon & Cyla Wiesenthal
image Je fais un don

News Releases 2024

Paris, 15 March 2024

Since the 7-October terror assault on Israel, the Friends of the Wiesenthal Centre, in cooperation with the Mouvement pour la Paix et Contre le Terrorisme (MPCT - Movement for Peace and Against Terrorism), are active in countering antisemitism and hate on the streets of Paris. Over the past week, we have been participating in the following initiatives:

1) On 8 March, while “Score a Goal for Women” was the focus event for UNESCO, “in the streets of Paris, the International Women’s Day rally for universal rights and equality saw a group of Jewish women, expressing solidarity with the female victims held captive by Hamas, heckled and targeted by insults, threats, eggs and soda cans, thrown by ‘pro-Palestinian militants’, stated Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels.

Social grievances have often been parasited recently, by militants hiding behind masks, keffiyehs and flags, and screaming slogans such as “from the river to the sea!” and “Khaybar, Khaybar!” – code-words for their antisemitic genocidal intent. The Centre co-signed an MPCT appeal to defend the dignity of Jewish women after this grotesque aggression.

14 March 2024 3
Samuels at UNESCO (photo csweurope); Remembering 7 October victims at the rally (photo AFP).

Paris, 14 March 2024

A French extreme-left group has demanded to ban the Israeli flag from the next Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Palestinian “sports” groups have called on all Arab and other countries to prevent Israel’s participation.

The International Olympic Committee’s President, Thomas Bach, has so far “made clear that there was no issue regarding Israel participating in the 2024 Summer Olympics,” cautioning others against discrimination in Paris.

Bach had apologized for the many years it took the IOC to commemorate the murder of Israeli athletes at the Munich 1972 Games as “the darkest days in Olympic history... an attack on the Olympics and its values.”

Wiesenthal Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, recalled that Bach had also held a moment of silence at the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Games to remember “the Munich 1972 terror murder of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian Black September.”

Samuels called on French President, Emmanuel Macron, “to ensure that Israel be present in these Paris Games and to prevent any BDS campaign (the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign targeting Israel), that would be reminiscent of Nazi Germany’s antisemitism, and not befitting the host country, France, nor the spirit of sport and of the Olympics.”

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Paris, 16 February 2024

One week ago, France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, had defined Hamas’ 7 October attack on Southern Israel as “the largest anti-Semitic massacre of our century.” The unwarranted response by UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, who claims to be impartial, was: “No, Mr. Macron. The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression.”

The French Foreign Ministry promptly responded to the UN Rapporteur, underlining that “October 7 was indeed the largest anti-Semitic massacre of the 21st century and defining the situation otherwise is a mistake.” According to the Quai d’Orsay, “these comments [by Albanese] are all the more scandalous given that the fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of racism is at the heart of the foundation of the UN.”

The Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, noted that “again, Ms. Albanese reverts the responsibility of murder, rape and kidnapping onto the victims, implying that it is Israel’s fault if others have repeatedly waged war and killed Jews for decades.”

Strasbourg, 15 February 2024

A solemn commemoration was held in Strasbourg last Sunday, to remember the victims of the 7 October massacre, and call for the liberation of all hostages still kept in Hamas’ terror tunnels under Gaza.

15 February 2024
The poster and photo of the commemoration rally for the victims and the kidnapped (photo CSW-Europe).

The city of Strasbourg, disputed between France and Germany over the past two centuries, has one of the most vibrant yet tormented Jewish communities in Western Europe. Today, the city is the headquarters of the Council of Europe and hosts the European Parliament.

The Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, stated that “this event in Strasbourg is essential to mobilize the European institutions against antisemitism, hate and violence.”

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Paris, 9 February 2024

At the 7 February ceremony in the grand courtyard of the Invalides Military and Contemporary History Museum, France’s President Emmanuel Macron delivered a heartfelt speech to commemorate each of the 42 Franco-Israelis murdered four months earlier in an unprecedented deluge of terror from Gaza.

9 February 2024
President Macron (right) facing the photos (held by officers) and names (on the screen)
of the French victims (photos CSW-Europe).

Speaking to surviving family members flown in from Israel, as well as to parliamentarians of all political parties, members of the Government and other dignitaries, he stated “Hamas perpetrated the most brutal antisemitic massacre of the century!”

Under a sombre overcast sky, the ceremony, aired live on several French TV channels, saw the presentation of each victim’s photo carried by officers of France’s Republican Guard.

Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, stated: “It is our duty to stand in solidarity with the families of the victims, as a testimony against antisemitism, hate and terrorism.”

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For further information, contact csweurope@gmail.com