AJC Delegation Concludes Visit to Paris

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Dec 07, 2014, 09:10 ET

PARIS, Dec. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An AJC delegation just concluded a two-day visit to the French capital. The visit followed two days of high-level meetings in Berlin.

During the visit, the delegation met with Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius for the fourth time this year; Jacques Audibert, Diplomatic Adviser to President Francois Hollande; Gilles Clavreul, newly-appointed Inter-ministerial Delegate to Fight against Racism and anti-Semitism; former French President and newly elected President of the opposition party Nicolas Sarkozy; U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley; and Israeli Ambassador to France Yossi Gal.

The visit also featured meetings with French Jewish community leaders, including the President of CRIF (Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions), Roger Cukierman.

"AJC leaders first visited France in 1919, in connection with the Paris Peace Conference," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Nearly a century later, AJC continues to recognize the critical role that France plays in regional and global affairs. Moreover, our visit took place just after the horrific anti-Semitic attack in Creteil. While we know that the French government stands steadfastly against anti-Semitism, it is clear that additional steps must be taken to ensure the security and well-being of French Jews, and the protection of core French values."

During the mission, the delegation focused on (i) short-term and longer-term measures to combat rising anti-Semitism; (ii) France's essential role in the recently extended P5+1 negotiations with Iran; (iii) the threat posed to Europe by the estimated 3,000 European "foreign fighters" currently in Iraq and Syria, of whom about 550 are from France; and (iv) France's controversial efforts in the UN Security Council to craft a resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, as well as the French National Assembly's recent (non-binding) vote to endorse unilaterally a Palestinian state, which AJC strongly opposed.

Today, the AJC delegation attended a demonstration against rising anti-Semitism in Creteil, a suburb of Paris. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, local political and religious leaders, and representatives of the French Jewish community spoke at the event, which more than 1,000 people attended. The rally was organized in response to the recent heinous anti-Semitic attack in that city. It was the latest in a series of violent attacks that have caused distress among the French Jewish community and all French citizens committed to the defense of core democratic values.

AJC Paris is directed by Simone Rodan-Benzaquen.

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SOURCE American Jewish Committee