• 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 2023

Open letter to Madam Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, Paris
From Dr Shimon Samuels, Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations

Paris, 2 August 2023

Madam Director-General,

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre is delighted to inform you of our work concerning World Heritage:

- With Argentina for Moises Ville, the village founded in 1889 by Jewish immigrants fleeing the pogroms in Tsarist Russia and Eastern Europe;

Open letter to Madam Elisabeth Borne, Prime Minister of France
from Dr Shimon Samuels, Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations

Paris, 30 July 2023

Madam Prime Minister,

We met last February, when we discussed your four-year plan against racism and antisemitism, in particular focused on youth education.

Our Centre saluted the intention to issue arrest warrants for those guilty of incitement to antisemitism under the mask of “freedom of expression”.

Article by Dr. Shimon Samuels published in The Jerusalem Post
23 July 2023
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-752033?dicbo=v2-ykWE9Ra

After twenty-nine years since the AMIA atrocity, striving to achieve justice is crucial.

23 July 2023 1
Then-Argentinian President Mauricio Macri speaks at an event in Buenos Aires in memory
of the victims of the 1994 bombing at the AMIA community center, marking the 25th anniversary
of the attack, in 2019 (photo Agustin Marcarian/Reuters).

At 9:53 a.m. on July 18, 1994, a car bomb demolished the AMIA Jewish Centre, leaving 85 dead and over 300 wounded.

In this July of 2023, the wounded and the families of the victims are again demanding that the perpetrators, Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsors, be brought to justice.

By Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels

Geneva, 13 July 2023

On 10 July, during its 53rd session, the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva, performed one of its favourite and infamous exercises - discussing Item 7 “human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT),” i.e. the singling out, demonization, defamation, delegitimation and application of double standards towards Israel.

The Special Rapporteur is Francesca Albanese, a lawyer, who professes “dedication, rigour and impartiality.”

Her report on Item 7 is a litany of inaccuracies and inconsistencies, that are tantamount to incitement to hatred. Ms. Albanese might be dedicated, but lacks rigour and is by no means impartial.

Some examples:

Paris, 7 July 2023

Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, noted with amazement “the clemency French Judges show when it comes to Islamists.”

We were invited to the offices of a Magistrates Trade Union. While waiting, we remarked that on the notice board were photos with followers of BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel) in a Kosher Supermarket smashing food off shelves.

The murderer of Sarah Halimi, tortured by her Islamist neighbour who was screaming “Allahu Akbar” as he threw her from her 3rd floor balcony. The Judge ruled him unfit for trial as he was suffering from the effects caused by cannabis.