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Jul. 19, 2004. 04:45 PM
Comments land Sharon in hot water with France
BY PAMELA SAMPSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS - President Jacques Chirac said today that the Israeli leader
would not be welcome here until he gave a satisfactory explanation for
saying Jews should go to Israel to escape anti-Semitism in France.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's remarks Saturday produced a
storm of rebuke after he said French Jews were under threat by the
country's much larger Muslim community and should leave.
Sharon was considering a trip to Paris, but no date had been set.
"A visit by the Israeli prime minister to Paris won't be looked at
closely until the requested explanation is provided," a presidential
source said on condition of anonymity.
The sharp response by Chirac, the head of the French National
Assembly and others caused Sharon to step back, with Israeli officials
claiming the remarks were taken out of context. The Israeli officials also
praised steps France has taken to stop a surge in violence against Jews.
Sharon's remarks - in which he said France was host to "the wildest
anti-Semitism" - were misunderstood, said Jacques Revah, the charge
d'affaires of the Israeli Embassy in Paris.
The Foreign Ministry earlier issued a terse statement calling
Sharon's remarks "unacceptable." Jean-Louis Debre, president of France's
lower house of Parliament, went further, telling Europe-1 radio that the
words are "inadmissible, unacceptable and, furthermore, irresponsible."
Even French Jewish leaders said Sharon's remarks did nothing to help
the situation.
"These comments do not bring calm, peace and serenity that we all
need," said Patrick Gaubert, president of the International League Against
Racism and Anti-Semitism, told France-2 television.
In the past, Israel has castigated the French for not doing more to
stem an upsurge in anti-Semitic acts blamed on young French Muslims using
the Middle East conflict to justify their violence. The latest French
Interior Ministry figures show 510 anti-Jewish acts or threats in the
first six months of 2004 - compared to 593 for all of last year.
In response, France has beefed up security at Jewish institutions
and enacted tougher punishments against anyone convicted of a crime
motivated by anti-Jewish hate. But in a country where French police files
are burgeoning with reports of such crime, a sense of uneasiness and
betrayal has some Jews questioning where they belong.
"Maybe I would move, I don't know," said Claude Chiche, a public
school teacher in Paris. "It shocks me when I go to a synagogue to see the
police officers there with guns. It's a hard thing to explain to my
children."
According to Israel's Ministry of Immigration and Absorption, 7,024
immigrants have come from France since 2000 - from a low of 1,160 in 2001
to a high of 2,385 in 2002. For the first half of 2004, 647 French Jews
immigrated.
Many Jews here think of themselves as French first and foremost.
"The French government has done a lot for us," said Nessim
Barchichat of Paris. "The Jews in France have their space, they are very
important here, they have their business, they are part of the country's
economy and despite the attachment to Israel, they refuse to leave."
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