France and Israel don’t always see eye-to-eye, but they agree to oppose terror, anti-Semitism. French, Israeli flags. Illustrative.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regularly makes the point that the radicals threatening Israel are not merely the problem of the Jews, but of all of the free world. French President Emmanuel Macron—whose nation has faced some of the worst acts of terror in the last decade—had a message for the Jews on Sunday: Your problems aren’t just your own, but of all the free world.
In a stirring speech commemorating the 75th anniversary of the deportation of French Jews during the Holocaust, Macron repeatedly assailed anti-Semitism and racism, but didn’t stop by looking at the past. In a message poignant for today, Macron declared that anti-Semitism’s new form is anti-Zionism—the opposition to the State of Israel.
“We will not yield anything to hate messages, we will not give in to anti-Zionism because it is the reinvented form of anti-Semitism,” said Macron in comments published on the French Presidency website. “And we will not give in to all those who, on every continent, seek to make us renounce freedom, seek to recreate divisions, seek to make us renounce this humanity, our democracy, our Republic.”
Netanyahu and Macron both had stern words in opposition to terrorism. “Two days ago in Nice, you said that this was a war of civilizations,” said Netanyahu to Macron in comments released by the Israeli leader’s office. “I fully agree. Militant Islam wants to destroy our common civilization. The militant Shiites led by Iran, the militant Sunnis led by ISIS—both seek to vanquish us.”
Netanyahu later noted that Israel is neither alone nor the focus of this radical enemy. “Militant Islamists do not hate the West because of Israel. To the contrary, they hate Israel because of the West, because they rightly see in Israel a forward bastion of our common values of freedom, humanism, democracy,” said Netanyahu.
“….The zealots of militant Islam, who seek to destroy you, seek to destroy us as well. We must stand against them together; we must remain strong against them together; and we must defeat them together.”
Macron had a similar sentiment. “This fight is also the one we are leading and which we will continue to lead everywhere together, Prime Minister, against the dark terrorism and the worst of fanaticism,” said Macron.
That sense of togetherness also appeared in separate comments with Netanyahu, also posted to his website, in which Macron expressed his condolences over the Israeli policemen who were shot in the Temple Mount attack last week. Calling the act of terror “odious,” Macron denounced strongly “any act of violence.”
In his speech mourning the deportation of the Jews during World War II, Macron pointed to the children who never were able to live normal lives in France.
“To these children I mean that France does not forget them, I mean that she loves them, I mean that she will do everything so that their torture always exhorts us not to yield either to hatred… rancor, or despair,” said Macron. “We will make, the children, a France where you would have liked to live. We will make, the children, a France where you will always live.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, July 17, 2017)