Accueil > Sociétés Civiles à Parlement Européen > AJC Leaders Meet Top French Officials, Attend CRIF Dinner
Embrassades, larges sourires...pendant ce temps le cerveau compte les voix mais oublie de compter celles que ces démonstrations scandalisent. Mauvais calcul !
AJC Leaders Meet Top French Officials, Attend CRIF Dinner
La République fraternise avec les hors-la-loi !
samedi 27 janvier 2007
January 24, 2007 – Paris – An American Jewish Committee leadership delegation concluded a two-day visit to Paris, where they held meetings with top French officials.
The principal topics discussed were the Iranian nuclear threat, prospects for advancing the Arab-Israeli peace process, ongoing challenges to Lebanon’s sovereignty, the UN Human Rights Council and its treatment of Israel, the fate of the French-Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, and the foreign policy platforms of the leading candidates in the French presidential elections.
The delegation met with, among others, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin ; Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy ; Interior Minister and presidential aspirant Nicolas Sarkozy ; Socialist Party spokesman Julian Dray ; former Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry Dominque Strauss Kahn ; U.S. Ambassador Craig Stapleton ; Israeli Ambassador Daniel Shek ; and leaders of the Consistoire, the French Jewish umbrella body, celebrating its 200th anniversary this year.
Other highlights of the visit included :
n For the seventh consecutive year, as an expression of solidarity with the French Jewish community, an AJC delegation attended the annual dinner of the CRIF, which gathered more than 800 notables from all walks of French life and the diplomatic community. Prime Minister de Villepin and CRIF President Roger Cukierman addressed the audience. AJC is the only American Jewish group to attend this dinner on a regular basis since the threats to French Jews surfaced in the fall of 2000.
n David Harris, AJC’s Executive Director, and Valerie Hoffenberg, AJC’s Paris Representative, were each honored with the « Medal of the Republic » by Nicolas Sarkozy in his capacity as Interior Minister. This was the third time Harris has been honored by the French government.
n The delegation was given a private tour of the new exhibition at the Pantheon honoring « Les Justes, » French Righteous who saved Jews, at risk to their own lives, during the Second World War. 2,700 French citizens have been recognized by Yad Vashem for their valor. President Jacques Chirac, in a moving address, opened the exhibit last week. His speech was broadcast live to the nation. The French government has asked for AJC’s help in bringing the exhibit to the United States. AJC Director of Government and International Affairs Jason Isaacson met with Minister of Culture and Communication Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and key aides, along with representatives of the Foundation for Memory of the Shoah, to begin the planning for a U.S. display.
n David Harris was given the rare privilege of speaking at one of France’s preeminent think tanks, Geostrategies 2000, on the Middle East. Harris also addressed students at one of France’s leading universities, the Institute of Political Sciences ("Sciences Po") on the topic of American interest groups and U.S. foreign policy.
AJC delegations travel regularly to Paris to discuss issues of mutual concern with French political, civic and Jewish leaders. The AJC office in Paris maintains daily contact with key sectors of French society. France is home to the largest Jewish community in Europe and plays an active role in the Middle East and global affairs.
