News Releases 2024
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.”
Read more: Wiesenthal Europe Calls for the Dismissal of UN...
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.
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.
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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Paris, 6 February 2024
Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, commends President Macron’s initiative to hold a solemn commemoration tomorrow for the victims of Hamas, in particular for the 42 French citizens murdered since 7 October.
In an open letter, Samuels stated, “We are aware that a delegation of the extreme-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) will be present at the National Homage, though most of their MPs still refuse to call Hamas a terrorist organization. Their mere presence will be painful for many grieving families... We therefore urge you to take all necessary measures to avoid them repeating the words of denial and relativism that have stained the Assemblée Nationale and the media over the past four months.”
Paris, 3 February 2024
Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, participated in last week’s Holocaust Victims’ Commemoration Day at UNESCO.
On 27 January 1945, Red Army troops discovered the Nazi horrors perpetrated in the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.
In the wake of the 7 October terror attacks by Hamas, more than ever is it necessary to remember the effects of genocidal intent, and combat today’s threat of a repetition of the Shoah!
Among the speakers were UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, Vice-President of the Memorial of the Shoah, François Heilbronn, and President of the Munich Jewish Community, Holocaust survivor Charlotte Knobloch. Samuels also met with Imam Hassen Chalghoumi, a friend of the Jewish people and a voice for moderate Islam, with whom the Centre has cooperated in tolerance education and against Islamist extremism over the past twenty years.
Samuels with Chalghoumi (photo Alain Azria).
In addition, the ceremony included several songs performed by the Institute of Concentrationary Music Literature, in particular melodies composed by Holocaust inmates. The Director of the Institute, Francesco Lotoro, was awarded by the Simon Wiesenthal Center with its Medal of Valour in 2020.
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