President Shimon Peres met with the heads of the French Jewish community and a delegation of Imams

President Shimon Peres met with the heads of the French Jewish community and
a delegation of Imams

Jerusalem, 10 March 2013

On the eve of the memorial events marking one year since the terrorist
attacks in Toulouse: President Shimon Peres met with the heads of the Jewish
community and a delegation of Imams

President Shimon Peres, this morning (Sunday, 10 March 2013), in France,
conducted a special meeting with the heads of the Jewish community of France
and with a delegation of Imams including the heads of the Egyptian, African,
Moroccan and Senegalese communities and heads of central mosques. The
meeting took place the day before memorial events in France to mark one year
since the terrorist attacks in Toulouse

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/2012/Victims_Toulouse_attack_buried_Israel_19-Mar-2012.htm

During the meeting with the Imams, President Peres was pleased by their
support for Israel, their moderate approach and tolerance towards other
faith communities and their vocal, steadfast opposition to terror in all its
forms. At the start of the meeting Imam Chalghoumi talked about the memorial
events one year after the terrorist attacks in France (March 11th and March
15th) and said, “Tomorrow, March 11th, is a terrible day of mourning for us,
a day on which terror struck from which we all suffered. I wanted to tell
you, Mr. President, that we Muslims are victims like the Jews, of the same
extremist who went on a journey of murder, who took the lives of children.
We are here to say to our brothers the Jews and the French: We are all
threatened by terror, hurt by terror and we all call with optimism for peace
at the end of this terrible year. We teach the believers that human life is
holier than the holy sites! Holier than Mecca, the Vatican or Jerusalem”

President Peres thanked the Imam for his words and expressed his
appreciation, “Whoever was responsible for the murder of French citizens and
Jewish children in Toulouse showed the ugly face of terror, and your words
show the way of peace. You are leaders of an Islam which seeks peace, as we
do. I am very grateful for your words, and I thank you for coming. I see in
you brothers in this path, dialogue between us is important and valuable and
that is why this meeting between us is so important. We will work together,
for all the peoples of the world, for Israeli’s and Palestinians, for peace
in the world.”

Imam Chalghoumi addressed the issue of the approach of the Muslim community
leadership towards the State of Israel and said that the delegation are
interested in bridging the gap between faiths and peoples, “The
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not an excuse to hate the State of Israel –
we are not interested in that hate and do not believe in it. We visited
Israel and saw the country, we want to know Israel as it really is and to
get to know people from different perspectives.”

During President Peres’s visit with the Jewish community the leaders of the
community in France, including the leadership of the community in Toulouse,
updated President Peres on manner in which they have been coping since the
murders a year ago. They asked to hear from President Peres about ways in
which the peace process with the Palestinians could be re-started, the
latest developments with regards to Iran and the general situation in the
Middle East in light of the Arab Spring. President Peres and the community
leadership also discussed incidents of anti-Semitism in France.

For additional information:

Ayelet Frish – Spokesperson and Media Adviser to the President of Israel,
050-6205111

Yair Zivan – International Media Coordinator, Office of the President of
Israel, 052-3450061