Isn't it interesting to see that the question of "blind support of Israel" is fracturing liberal parties in both France and the US? Indeed, as long-standing dens of Jewish opinionmakers, both the Democratic Party and the Parti Socialiste are increasingly at pains to advocate their pro-Israel line....
In the US:
Message 17960005
In France:
'Can we criticise Israel?'
Although the leadership of the French Socialist Party continues to support Israel come what may, dissent is brewing in the ranks. Jeremy Landor writes from Paris
A row has erupted in France's main opposition party, the Parti Socialiste (PS), over its unstinting support for Israel. A number of its leading figures have been prominent at recent events and demonstrations in support of Israel. But Pascal Boniface, a member of the PS national strategy group, director of the influential Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS) and author of a recent book, 'Can we criticise Israel?', believes that they have gone too far. In protest, he has quit the party after 23 years as a loyal member.
In a letter written to the secretary-general of the PS, François Hollande [Jew], in July, Boniface complained that "priority is given to those in the PS who have an ethnic reading of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict". He was also upset that a former finance minister, Dominique Strauss-Kahn [Jew], had insulted him in a speech at a pro-Israeli rally on 22 June, calling Boniface "contemptible".
Boniface tried to persuade PS leaders to modify their policy towards Israel before the presidential elections in May last year, asking rhetorically: "Can we vilify Joerg Haidar (Austrian leader of the fascist Freedom Party) and treat Ariel Sharon normally?" He also made the controversial suggestion that Israel be added to American President George W Bush's "axis of evil".
In January 2003, PS leader and former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius [Jew] resigned from the board of IRIS along with Serge Weinberg, director of the retail giant Pinault-Printemps-Redoute. Boniface was sacked from his position on the PS strategy group last month, and has been labelled an anti-Semite by pro-Israeli writers.
However, a director of the magazine L'Express, Professor Grosser, supported his views, submitting his resignation after the magazine gave an unusual degree of prominence to readers critical of Boniface.
According to Boniface, there is widespread support for his views in the PS. "The majority of people in the party agree with me, but Hollande does not want any trouble."
[...]
weekly.ahram.org.eg
Footnote:
The former French PM and presidential hopeful Lionel Jospin is Protestant, the son of a Protestant minister and married to a Jew, Mrs S. Agacinski.... |
