CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish organizations said the Jewish community of France was ‘’shocked’’ by the vote of the city of Lille to ‘’temporary freeze” a twinning with the Israeli city of Safed.
The vote is part of several “initiatives taken notably by the European Parliament to call for a freezing of the privileged agreements with Israel in order to pressure the government and accelerate the resolution of the conflict,” said Marie-Pierre Bresson, a member of Lille ‘s Municipal Council from the Green Party.
Lille Mayor Martine Aubry, of the ruling Socialist Party, said that the twinning agreement with Safed has not been canceled, but she did not say when the freeze would be lifted. She said her city has been involved since many years in promoting peace in the Middle and in favor of two states, one Israeli and one Palestinian.
Roger Cukierman, president of CRIF, wrote a letter to Aubry in which hen described the city’s move as ‘’shocking’’ to the Jewish community of France.
‘’IThis decision is tatamount to a heinous attitude towards the Israeli people because neither the twin city nor the Israeli people are responsible for the Israeli government’s policy.’’, he wrote.