Natan Sharamsky
Natan SharamskyJewish Agency

Natan Sharansky, the Chairman of the Jewish Agency, participated in a rally in Jerusalem Sunday alongside more than 1,000 Jewish students from France.

A group of 1,100 French high school seniors from 25 Jewish schools are taking part part in the annual “Bac Bleu Blanc” (Seniors in Blue and White) trip, which is run by the Jewish Agency as part of its 'Israel Experience' program.

The students spend a week in Israel, visiting historical sites and partaking in numerous activities, including visits to Hevron and the the grave of Israel's founding Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion.

A highlight of the trip is the lighting of Hanukkah candles at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem. Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, Amos Hermon, the director of the Israel Experience, and other dignitaries will also attend the ceremony at the International Convention Center.

Sharansky told the students: "In the Soviet Union 50 years ago there were 3 million Jews with no power to fight anti-Semitism. Then the news broke that Israeli soldiers had entered Jerusalem for the first time, and we in the Soviet Union received strength and unity, and, together with Jews from around the world, began to break [though] the oppression of the Soviet Union. When I was brought before the judge, he asked me 'What do you have to say for yourself?' I answered that all I had to say to the Jewish people was 'Next year in Jerusalem the rebuilt.' You also recognize the energy and the life which was given to us by Jerusalem."

This year the Bac Bleu Blanc program marks the 50th anniversary of the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem.