FRANCE: Thousands of Israeli sympathisers rally in Paris to show support for Gaza action

Record ID: 395531

  • Title: FRANCE: Thousands of Israeli sympathisers rally in Paris to show support for Gaza action
  • Date: 5th January 2009
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JANUARY 04, 2009) (REUTERS) CROWD OF ISRAEL SUPPORTERS SPEAKER ON PODIUM ADDRESSING CROWD. CROWD CHEERING AND WAVING ISRAELI FLAGS / SPEAKER SAYING IN FRENCH, "The Jewish people have the right to exist" VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS HOLDING ISRAELI FLAGS, POSTER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE GILAD SHALIT AND BANNERS. HEAD OF FRANCE'S MAIN JEWISH GROUP ''CRIF'', RICHARD PASQU
  • Embargoed: 20th January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8J4H37O3Z4W7IQHRXPFHZOB96
  • Story Text: Thousands of Israeli sympathizers gathered on Sunday (January 4) in Paris to demonstrate their solidarity with Israels' military action on the Gaza Strip.
    France's 600,000-strong French Jewish community, is the largest in Europe and prominent figures including the Israeli ambassador to France, Daniel Shek, reiterated that Israel had the right to defend itself against Hamas and its indiscriminate targetting of civilians.
    Richard Pasquier, the head of France's main Jewish organisation (CRIF) said a real peace with Hamas is unrealistic given its stated objective to destroy the state of Israel. Hamas' 1988 founding charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state but in the past the faction has offered to suspend hostilities as part of a long-term accord.

    "This is not an operation against the Palestinian people, this is an operation against Hamas which is a terrorist organisation. Unfortunately, given its ideology, it is not possible to envisage a real peace,'' Pasquier said outside the Israeli embassy in Paris.
    The Israeli Ambassador said that a long term cessation of fire was the only way to achieve peace and that Hamas must stop firing rockets at Israel.

    "The way out of this must include, not a ceasefire but a cessation, a complete cessation of fire for the long term. I think the real challenge today, if we do not want these difficult days to go down in history as wasted, is to make sure that in the long term the population South of Israel can go back to a normal life which will immediately bring about the same situation in Gaza. Once the Israeli population of the South can live without the threat of Kassam rockets and other rockets the population of Gaza will be able to prosper too."
    Israeli tanks and infantry battled Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in a ground offensive launched after eight days of deadly air strikes failed to halt the Islamist group's rocket attacks on Israel.
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