(JTA) — The co-founder of a French-Muslim advocacy group was forced to resign for inviting a Jewish, pro-Israel lawmaker to the group’s inaugural event.
Farid Belkacemi stepped down as vice president of the League for the Judicial Defense of Muslims over the presence at the Sept. 16 event of Meyer Habib, a member of the National Assembly in France and former vice president of the CRIF umbrella organization of French Jewish communities, according to a statement by the Muslim group.
Habib’s attendance at the Paris event was “incompatible with the League’s values and provoked heated emotions because of Habib’s capacity as advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his functions at the heart of Likud,” the Sept. 19 statement read.
CRIF released a statement saying that Habib was not representing the Jewish organization but attended the event in his capacity at the National Assembly.
The CRIF statement noted that among the founding members of the new Muslim body was Roland Dumas, a former French foreign minister from the Socialist Party who said in July during a television interview that Israel was behind the British government’s readiness to strike in Syria.
Dumas also has accused “Israelis” of controlling French intelligence services, the statement said.
