Israel, France And Jean Marie Le Pen,Editorial Board

In recent weeks The Jewish Press has addressed the issue of France's largely adversarial relationship with Israel and published a response from the French Consul in New York taking exception to our observations. Readers will recall that this was all prompted by our comments on an award bestowed by the French government on Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman, who, upon accepting the honor, characterized French President Jacques Chirac as a "friend" of Israel and the Jewish people.

So it is not of little moment that this week France pledged to cooperate with the newly formed Palestinian unity government that would be controlled by Hamas, an organization deemed a terrorist entity by the United States and Israel. Hamas refuses to recognize the legitimacy of Israel and to renounce violence against it.

In this connection it is noteworthy that Jean Marie Le Pen, running for president of France, has taken to comparing the 9/11 attacks to World War II bombing raids by the Allies. He said both were "terrorist acts as they expressly targeted civilians to force military leaders to capitulate" and dismissed the 9/11 attacks as a mere "incident."

Here's what Le Pen told the Roman Catholic newspaper La Croix: "Three thousand dead - that is how many die in Iraq in a month, and its far less than the deaths in the Marseille or Dresden bombings at the end of Second World War."

He went on to say, "The September 11 event, or one could say incident, prompted a certain number of people to distance themselves" from Islamic extremism "to avoid falling under the barrage of accusations that was unleashed."

Le Pen, who was convicted in 1999 by a Munichcourt for statements "minimizing the Holocaust, which caused the deaths of six million Jews," remains a troublingly influential politician in France. The latest poll on the upcoming election puts him at 14% of the first-round vote.

Le Pen's popularity suggests a state of affairs in France totally at odds with the Foxman spin. And it goes a long way toward explaining why so many Jews are leaving France.

Read Comments (0)

Israel, France And Jean Marie Le Pen , Editorial Board