PARIS (Press Release)–StandWithUs France condemns High Representative of the European Union, Catherine Ashton, for her statement regarding the brutal, anti-Semitic murders of four people at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France on Monday.
As France reels in horror at this attack, together with the global Jewish community and all people of conscience, High Representative Ashton, the EU’s top diplomat, chose to compare the situation of those murdered to Palestinians in Hamas-run Gaza, during a meeting with Palestinian youth she attended in Brussels.
“This was an insensitive comment which was pandering to the Palestinian group Ashton was with, and it is incredibly hurtful to the victims and to the French Jewish community”, said Laurent Preece, Director of StandWithUs France, who heard her comments while participating at a 50,000 strong silent rally in Paris in memory of the victims.
“Her record regarding diplomacy and the Israeli-Arab conflict has been checkered at best, but these comments are beyond the pale. She should apologize immediately or resign her position.”
StandWithUs CEO, Roz Rothstein commented from Los Angeles: “The attack that took place in Toulouse is in no way similar to the situation in Gaza. Since Israel pulled out of Gaza, Palestinian terror groups have fired tens of thousands of rockets on Israeli cities indiscriminately killing and maiming children and adults.” Adds Preece, “In recent weeks, Israeli schoolchildren have been cowering from attacks by Palestinian missiles fired deliberately at them from Gaza, so it is incredible that Catherine Ashton chose to compare the anti-Semitic murder yesterday in front of a Jewish Day School of Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, his two young children Gabriel and Aryeh and another child, Miryam Monsonego, to children in Gaza.
In Gaza, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terror groups use Palestinian children as human shields while firing with impunity at Israeli children.” StandWithUs France will be taking part in a memorial rally in Paris, led by the CRIF on Sunday.
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Preceding provided by StandWithUs