On the 9th of January, the government of Mauritius announced that it was suspending the activities of Israel’s honorary consul because of “Israel’s disproportionate use of force in Gaza.”
Questioned that same day by the Paris based Jewish radio channel Radio J, General Director of Crif Haim Musicant had said that he “was not surprised by this outrageous decision” taken against the singer Enrico Macias, who is a UNESCO Peace Ambassador.
Haim Musicant recalled that Mauritius had already illustrated itself by its hostile policy towards Israel and that, though it has virtual diplomatic relations with Israel, since 2000 it has been refusing to accredit Israel’s ambassador.
CRIF’s General Director had underlined that such an attitude would not fail to have negative repercussions on the country’s tourism, which is a very popular destination for French tourists, including the Jewish community.
In his letter subsequently addressed to CRIF, Xavier-Luc Duval, “dismayed” by CRIF’s position, pointed out that “during a demonstration expressing support for the Palestinians organised in Port-Louis, the Minister of Justice of Mauritius had expressed a purely personal point of view when asking the population not to go to the singer’s concert.” The Deputy Prime Minister emphasised that “his position in no way reflects that of the government of Mauritius toward Enrico Macias.”
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