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News Releases 2023

Paris, 15 December 2023

“Since the murderous 7 October terror attack by Hamas in Southern Israel, no less than 1,800 antisemitic incidents have been reported in France. Though a record number of perpetrators have been identified, most are still on the loose. In several cases, acts and threats of violence are directed towards women,” stated Wiesenthal Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels. Some examples:

1) In November, a 30 year-old, in Lyon, was stabbed in her stomach. A swastika had been etched next to a mezuzah, the small prayer box usually attached to the doorpost of a Jewish home. The perpetrator is still at large. Police suggested the act may be related to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Rome, 6 December 2023

Yesterday, 5 December, Rome hosted a rally “No Antisemitism, No Terrorism” in central Piazza del Popolo, organized by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) and the Jewish Community of Rome.

Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, noted the wide consensus of Italian institutions and public opinion... “The rally celebrated Israel, the Jews and Judaism, the right to exist, to defend the People and the State, the dignity of women, children, elderly, kidnapped or killed... victims of the heinous terror attack by Hamas on 7 October.”

Placards read, among others, “This is what a Peaceful Rally Looks Like” (a reference to masked pro-Palestinian rioters worldwide), “Jewish Women Lives Matter” (a clear message to fringe feminists’ denial of the massive rape and murder of Israeli women and girls on 7/10) and “Free all Israeli hostages” with photos of the kidnapped...

Paris and Rome, 6 December 2023

Wiesenthal Centre is horrified at the title chosen by Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), for her new book: “J’Accuse”, subtitled “The 7 October Attacks, Hamas, Terrorism, Israel, Apartheid in Palestine and the War”.

Now it is only in Italian, but it is meant to become a bestseller for the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and antisemitic camp worldwide. Albanese has repeatedly spoken, in the name of the UN, against Israel. On Amazon Italy, her claim is “apartheid and a neocolonial occupation with thousands of victims is indisputable”, feeding the narrative of genocidal terrorism under the banner of “Israel had it coming!”

Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, noted that “J’Accuse!” was the title of an open letter by novelist Emile Zola, accusing the French Government of antisemitism against Jewish Captain Alfred Dreyfus, sentenced for treason, based on fabricated charges. From 1898, “J’Accuse” had been a “trademark precedent” to denounce antisemitism.

6 December 2023
“J’Accuse”, the book by Francesca Albanese, and the open letter by Emile Zola.

Paris, 4 December 2023

Saturday 2 December morning saw murder alongside the Eiffel Tower, in the centre of Paris.

The attacker wielded a knife and a hammer, screaming “Allahu Akbar”, while killing a young German-Filipino tourist and injuring two elderly men, one French, the other British.

The perpetrator was already known to the police. Born in France to an Iranian couple in 1997, he had been identified as “unstable and highly influenceable” in 2016, when arrested for his apparent intent to carry out a terrorist attack. France’s Health Minister, Aurélien Rousseau, stated that, prior to Saturday’s deadly attack, the suspect “was being monitored to follow treatment for mental health issues”.

Interrogated after his arrest, the terrorist reportedly told the police that he “could no longer bear to see Muslims die, both in Afghanistan and in Palestine”.

Paris, 30 November 2023

Each January, my Latin-American colleague and myself would attend the World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, to discover the forthcoming trends in antisemitism and hate against Israel.

In January 2010, the WSF was entering its 10th year of activity, with the focus subject “Challenges and Proposals for Another Possible World”, but the main theme was “Palestine” with the preparation of “Flotilla and Flytilla campaigns to Gaza”.

The discussion on the Flytilla (an “invasion” of pro-Palestinian militants through airlines) was a failure.