by Eldad Beck and Israel Hayom Staff
Human Rights Prize awarded to contested Israeli organization B'Tselem and Palestinian group Al-Haq, which advocates boycott of Israel in the international arena
France decided to
award its prestigious Human Rights Prize for 2018 to the controversial
Israeli watchdog group B'Tselem and to Palestinian group Al-Haq, which
supports total boycott and isolation of Israel internationally, drawing
broad condemnation and outrage.
The prize will be awarded in Paris on Dec.
10 by French Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet and head of France's
National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, Christine Lazerges.
The ceremony is timed to coincide with International Human Rights Day.
French parliament member Meir Habib criticized the decision.
"I am once again astonished at France's
obsession with what it defines as the 'occupation.' We French are once
again opting to see a perverted version of reality. How is it possible
to give a 'human rights' prize to organizations that treat terrorists
like freedom fighters?" Habib said.
"Why is there no reference to the human
rights of Israelis, who suffer from unceasing terrorism? This prize
pushes peace further off and is a mark of Cain on the forehead of the
French Republic," Habib said.
Israel's Culture Minister Miri Regev
remarked that "This is not a prize; it's a mark of Cain and it
officially characterizes B'Tselem's activity as anti-Israeli."
In a statement published Wednesday,
B'Tselem said that this year's prize was being "awarded to organizations
that are being harassed or pressured for defending and promoting human
rights."
"We at B'Tselem and Al-Haq share the same
values and the same realization: that only by ending the occupation can
there be a future based on human rights, equality, and liberty," the
statement said.
Eldad Beck and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/12/06/france-honors-anti-israel-watchdog-groups-sparks-backlash/
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