How Low Can You Go? French Ambassador to U.S. Puts Jews in the Same Category as Journalists

The ambassador posing with Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock*

Apparently, neither Jews nor journalists are "ordinary" French citizens. One might be inclined to give the ambassador pass--oh, you know what he meant; don't be so uncharitable--except that this is not the first time these sorts of statements have been made. Also, he's a diplomat for goodness sake.

Also, what is the charitable interpretation?

Read down to the fourth paragraph where Ambassador Araud declares that the "ordinary citizens" murdered on 11/13 had "committed no crime" (except wanting to enjoy the Paris nightlife). In mid-January, Muslim terrorists attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo, murdering eleven, and then stormed a Jewish deli, murdering four patrons (all of whom were Jewish). So, we know what "crime" the Charlie employees were responsible for--they had drawn funny pictures of Muhammad, among other things.

What crime had the Jews committed?

From Ruthie Blum in the Algeimener, 25 November via Jihad Watch: 

Last week, French citizens residing in America received a letter from Gérard Araud, France’s ambassador to the US, responding to the tragic event in Paris on November 13. 

The letter expressed horror in the face of the coordinated ISIS attacks on innocent people, without mentioning the name of the terrorist organization, and an appeal for unity and solidarity during these trying times. 

A debate on social media among French Jews ensued, due to a particular passage in the missive. 

After expressing solidarity with the people of France and praising the United States and President Obama for “being on our side in the fight against extremism and terrorism,” Araud wrote: “These are the foundations of our model of society that the terrorists seek to destroy: Yesterday journalists and Jews; now ordinary citizens whose only crime was to enjoy life on a Friday night in Paris.” 

One Jewish ex-pat, Ron Agam, a French-born Israeli artist and activist living in New York, posted his outrage on Facebook. 

“Tonight French people in the US received a letter from the French Ambassador about the events in Paris. To my surprise I learned that I — the Jew that I am — was not a regular French citizen, I was a Jew.” 

Another French Jew, Schlomoh Brodowicz, an academic who immigrated to Israel, explained to The Algemeiner this week why the ambassador’s statement was so vexing. 

“This man [Araud], is supposed to represent France in a major country which hosts the third-largest Jewish community in the world,” he said. “And his message clearly sets the Jews apart from other French citizens. When one recalls the slaughter committed by Islamists on January 9, 2015 in the HyperCasher kosher grocery store — where four Jews doing their shopping for Shabbat were killed – this message sounds like: ‘Those who were killed while they enjoyed entertainment on Friday night were ordinary citizens, while those who were shopping for Shabbat on Friday afternoon were not ordinary citizens; they were merely Jews.’” 

This, said Brodowicz, “is reminiscent of a similar remark made by then-Prime Minister Raymond Barre after the bombing of a Paris synagogue in 1980: ‘This heinous attack was aimed at Israelites who go to synagogue, but struck innocent French people crossing the street.’”…

*This is piling on, I know, but much of Captain Haddock's pseudo-foul-mouthed argot was allegedly cribbed from one of Céline's notoriously anti-semitic pre-war pamphlets Bagatelles pour un massacre. My point is not to bash Tintin, but to give an example of how French culture is arguably infused with anti-semitic silliness, petty and otherwise.