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Demonstrators Demand Tougher French Action Against Neo-nazi Terrorists

October 8, 1980
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About 250 Israelis, most of them of French or Moroccan origin, demonstrated outside of the French Consulate here yesterday to demand tougher French action against neo-Nazi terrorists who have attacked Jewish institutions in France, including the fatal bombing of a Paris synagogue last Friday. They were joined by many visiting French students.

They also demanded that France end its pro-Arab policy in the Middle East which, they claimed, is responsible for the increasing wave of anti-Semitic violence in that country. Most of the demonstrators were members of the Oded movement, composed of French-speaking Israelis dedicated to raising the living standards of Oriental Jews in Israel.

The demonstration was led by independent MK Mordechai Elarabii who handed a letter to the French Consul addressed to President Valery Giscard d’Estaing of France. The letter charged that France’s anti-Israel policies encouraged the emergence of anti-Semitic organizations in France. The Consul conceded that there were differences of opinion between France and Israel but insisted that France was not anti-Israel and promised that the government would do its utmost to protect Jewish citizens.

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