PARIS—Following an outcry from Jewish groups, French Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet has decided to walk out from presiding a ceremony on granting a human rights award to Israeli extreme left group B’Tselem and to a Palestinian terrorism-linked organization Al Haq.
The Hunman Rights Prize was awarded Monday by the President of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) during a ceremony in Paris coinciding wqith the International Human Rights Day, which marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
No member of the French government was present at the ceremony. According to daily Le Monde, the absence of any member of the government was a decision from Matignon’’, the French Prime Minister’s Office.
‘B’Tselem’, is a fervent activist of a boycott of Israel and Al Haq leaders are reported to be active figures of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an organization on the EU and US terrorism lists.
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Shimon Samuels, congratulated the French Justice Minister for her decision to refuse to grant the award following protests from the Centre and other Jewish groups.
“Now the Minister should show courage, not only to disassociate herself from mayhem, but to insist that the CNCDH withdraw the prize definitively,” said Samuels.
“The award, if granted, will legitimize terror and boycott targetting Israel and the Jewish people,” he added.
Israel also condemned the award. Deputy Minister Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the US, adeclared: “France gives its highest award to B’Tselem and al-Haq organizations that accuse Israel of apartheid, delegitimize us internationally, defend terror, and support BDS. The same France cannot claim that it fights antisemitism.”