“Conditions are no longer met to host Israeli companies at the show at a time when the President is calling for Israel to cease operations in Rafah.”
French authorities have barred Israeli military businesses from participating in a trade expo near Paris next month, organizers announced on Friday, according to Agence France Presse.
“Following a decision by government authorities, there will not be an Israeli stand at the Eurosatory 2024 salon,” a spokesperson for the organizers said via email.
The Defense Ministry told Reuters news agency that “conditions are no longer met to host Israeli companies at the show at a time when the President is calling for Israel to cease operations in Rafah.”
When reached by AFP, the Israeli embassy reportedly declined to comment.
🇫🇷🇮🇱 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛 : Annulation de la participation d'Israël au salon Eurosatory en France.
🗣️ "Ce boycott est scandaleux. Probable qu'il s'agisse d'un clin d'œil aux jeunes des banlieues"
Avi Pazner, ex-ambassadeur d'Israël en France.
pic.twitter.com/xqAZX9aCRo— Les Spectateurs (@les_spectateurs) May 31, 2024
“The incident comes days after the Israeli bombing of a camp for the displaced in the Gaza Strip sparked international outrage and protests in France,” AFP added.
French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly said he was “outraged” by the Israeli massacre in Tel Al-Sultan, west of Rafah, which killed at least 50 Palestinians and wounded many more.
France repeatedly expressed its rejection of an Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
On May 20, Nathalie Broadhurst, deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said in remarks to the UN Security Council that “France is firmly opposed to the Israeli offensive on Rafah, which would only worsen an already catastrophic situation in Gaza and increase the risk of escalation.”
“France once again calls on Israel to do its utmost to ensure the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel, and to guarantee access for humanitarian aid, in accordance with international law and the demands of the International Court of Justice,” Broadhurst added.
The Rafah Invasion Timeline: Israel’s Long Build-Up To Invasion
Paris Protests
For the third consecutive day, France is witnessing protests in support of Palestine, in opposition to the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Hundreds of demonstrators rallied on Thursday outside the offices of the private broadcaster TF1 in Paris to protest the airing of an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the Gaza war.
Protesters gathered nearby the channel’s building, chanting: “Gaza, Paris is with you,” “Immediate ceasefire!” and “Israel, murderer.”
In his interview, Netanyahu dismissed accusations that Israel was targeting and starving civilians in Gaza as “antisemitic slander”.
On Tuesday, French lawmaker Sebastien Delogu was suspended for 15 days after waving a Palestinian flag in parliament.
Gaza Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 36,284 Palestinians have been killed, and 82,057 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
Netanyahu is effectively declaring reality is antisemitic, because the evidence is overwhelming that targeting civilians is the modus operandi of the IDF, and has been so from the 1930s. Does he ever think? Obviously not.