World
Jewish Students: Jewish students plaster Paris walls with photos of French citizens believed held hostage by Hamas
PARIS: France’s fundamental Jewish college students union has plastered partitions round Paris with posters bearing the faces of French residents believed to be held hostage by Hamas of their struggle with Israel. The phrase “Kidnapped” is inscribed on a crimson banner on the prime of every {photograph}.
Little or no is understood concerning the hostages locked away within the Gaza Strip or whether or not a few of these captured in the course of the Oct. 7 shock assault on Israel have been killed within the Jewish state’s brutal counter-offensive. An Israeli army spokesman on Monday upped the variety of hostages to 199, however didn’t specify whether or not that quantity contains foreigners.
Some households in France, which has the biggest Jewish inhabitants in western Europe, have taken a direct hit from the Israel-Hamas struggle. French International Minister Catherine Colonna mentioned Sunday throughout a go to to Israel that 19 French residents are recognized to have been killed and 13 others are lacking.
The scholars’ motion in Paris follows the same marketing campaign by Jews in London, the place a whole bunch of volunteers lately posted fliers across the metropolis bearing pictures of British residents believed to have been taken hostage.
The photographs, that includes youngsters, have been positioned extensively to publicize the main points of the atrocity past the Jewish group, organizers instructed Jewish Information, a web-based newspaper. In an indication of rising competition over the struggle, two robed ladies have been seen in movies posted on-line final weekend angrily ripping the posters down.
The French Jewish college students union, often called UEJF, says that individuals are flirting with hazard if the plight of Jews in France – and elsewhere – just isn’t shared by all.
“This is not concerning the Israeli-Palestinian battle. It is a query of a terror group that’s attacking a free and democratic state,” mentioned Samuel Lejoyeux, president of the UEJF, glancing on the greater than 50 posters on the partitions close to the Institute of Drugs on the Left Financial institution.
The union has primarily focused universities, the place debate over the struggle has been heated – with one professor lately disciplined for expressing help of Hamas.
Sylvie Retailleau, France’s minister for increased training, has taken intention at professors and others in college circles for straying from France’s pro-Israel place within the struggle.
Two days after Hamas militants attacked Israel, Retailleau pinned a letter on the platform X addressed to college presidents telling them to take disciplinary – and authorized – measures in opposition to those that break French regulation, together with taking circumstances to prosecutors.
“It is not a Jewish query. Everybody must act and be with us,” Lejoyeux, the scholar union chief, mentioned. He claimed {that a} minority of individuals see expressions of solidarity for Israel as “an act of Zionism.”
“It is not merely the Jews who’re focused, it’s the values of democracy and freedom that France has in frequent with Israel,” Lejoyeux mentioned.
Little or no is understood concerning the hostages locked away within the Gaza Strip or whether or not a few of these captured in the course of the Oct. 7 shock assault on Israel have been killed within the Jewish state’s brutal counter-offensive. An Israeli army spokesman on Monday upped the variety of hostages to 199, however didn’t specify whether or not that quantity contains foreigners.
Some households in France, which has the biggest Jewish inhabitants in western Europe, have taken a direct hit from the Israel-Hamas struggle. French International Minister Catherine Colonna mentioned Sunday throughout a go to to Israel that 19 French residents are recognized to have been killed and 13 others are lacking.
The scholars’ motion in Paris follows the same marketing campaign by Jews in London, the place a whole bunch of volunteers lately posted fliers across the metropolis bearing pictures of British residents believed to have been taken hostage.
The photographs, that includes youngsters, have been positioned extensively to publicize the main points of the atrocity past the Jewish group, organizers instructed Jewish Information, a web-based newspaper. In an indication of rising competition over the struggle, two robed ladies have been seen in movies posted on-line final weekend angrily ripping the posters down.
The French Jewish college students union, often called UEJF, says that individuals are flirting with hazard if the plight of Jews in France – and elsewhere – just isn’t shared by all.
“This is not concerning the Israeli-Palestinian battle. It is a query of a terror group that’s attacking a free and democratic state,” mentioned Samuel Lejoyeux, president of the UEJF, glancing on the greater than 50 posters on the partitions close to the Institute of Drugs on the Left Financial institution.
The union has primarily focused universities, the place debate over the struggle has been heated – with one professor lately disciplined for expressing help of Hamas.
Sylvie Retailleau, France’s minister for increased training, has taken intention at professors and others in college circles for straying from France’s pro-Israel place within the struggle.
Two days after Hamas militants attacked Israel, Retailleau pinned a letter on the platform X addressed to college presidents telling them to take disciplinary – and authorized – measures in opposition to those that break French regulation, together with taking circumstances to prosecutors.
“It is not a Jewish query. Everybody must act and be with us,” Lejoyeux, the scholar union chief, mentioned. He claimed {that a} minority of individuals see expressions of solidarity for Israel as “an act of Zionism.”
“It is not merely the Jews who’re focused, it’s the values of democracy and freedom that France has in frequent with Israel,” Lejoyeux mentioned.
