French Jewish groups are up in arms over a new photo exhibition in Paris which they argue glorifies Palestinian terrorism, JTA reports.
The controversial exhibition put up by Doctors without Borders features pictures and accompanying text about the Israel-Palestinian conflict, which, it claims, began with Zionism’s “goal of creating a Jewish state in Palestine."
Part of the exhibition centers on a 26-year-old from Shechem who has been imprisoned multiple times in Israeli jails. Without expounding on the terrorist crimes that likely put him in jail, the exhibit simply describes Israeli prisons as having "degrading, humiliating" conditions.
Another photo displays an Arabic-language poster describing a Palestinian terrorist eliminated while attacking Israelis as a "martyr."
Roger Cukierman, president of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities, lobbied the Paris municipality last week to deny the medical group a space to present the exhibition called "In Between Wars."
His pleas fell on deaf ears as the exhibit opened on December 23 at the Maison des Metallos, a cultural space owned by the municipality.
The CRIF slammed the exposition in a statement, asserting it "can only augment anti-Semitic violence and the terrorist threat."
Cukierman also took to Twitter, writing: “We are crying still for 130 dead but for Doctors without Borders, terrorist are martyrs. Shocking.”
In response, Mego Terzian, the president of Doctors without Borders, told AFP that while he "understands the controversial nature" of the exposition, Cukierman "acted irresponsibly" and his claims “are outside the norms of public discourse and unacceptable.”