The Hindu : Protests as Katzav begins French tour

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004

International

International

Protests as Katzav begins French tour

By Vaiju Naravane

PARIS, FEB. 17. Franco-Israeli attempts to improve their strained relations got off to a rocky start on Monday, the first day of the Israeli President, Moshe Katzav's four-day official visit to Paris as hundreds of demonstrators protested against the Jewish state's construction of a controversial fence across the occupied West Bank.

The two nations hope the visit, which is being held under extremely tight security and is the first by an Israeli head of state since 1988, will bolster bilateral ties, despite persistent tensions in West Asia and allegations of anti-Semitism in France.

The first evening of Mr. Katzav's visit was marked by a protest against Israel's separation barrier across the West Bank, staged by demonstrators from more than a dozen political parties and associations, including the Greens and the Human Rights' League.

Protestors unfurled banners demanding "Stop Israeli state terrorism" and chanted slogans such as "State of Israel, criminal state". The legality of the barrier is to be examined next week by the International Court of Justice in the Hague. Israel has decided to boycott the hearings.

At a dinner in honour of the visiting Israeli leader, the French President, Jacques Chirac, said his country supported Israel's right to a Jewish state but added, "the Palestinians also have the right to peace, to dignity, to a future, to a state".

France has strongly criticised the erection of the barrier and called it `illegal'.

Mr. Chirac, adding his voice to international concerns, expressed the fear that the barrier would worsen the West Asian conflict.

The German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, on a visit to Israel, also said on Monday that Israel had the right to "fight terror" but that the European Union wanted it to "substantially change the path" of the barrier.

Israel insists the wall is designed to keep out Palestinian suicide bombers but Palestinians argue it is a land grab and a form of apartheid.

Israel has been increasingly critical of anti-Semitism in France, which it claims is growing exponentially. Israeli officials have said that anti-Semitic incidents in France doubled last year, contradicting official French figures showing the opposite was true.

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Protests as Katzav begins French tour