Paris, 5 January 2011

In a letter to French Interior Minister, Brice Hortefeux, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr.Shimon Samuels, expressed horror to learn that "hot on the heels of the atrocities in Egypt, there have been threats of violence against the Coptic Parish of France".

Samuels recalled that "the late Simon Wiesenthal consistently stated that 'what begins with the Jews never ends with them'.Jihadi antisemitism is now adding an anti-Christian guise, apparently no longer limited to the Middle East". 

The Centre expressed "solidarity with the families of the innocent victims in Egypt, cut down at prayer in their Church...it also stands together with the Coptic community in France and across Europe" and called on the Minister "to take all necessary measures to contain menaces against Christians as against all other faith communities".