PRASQUIER: WE ARE CONTINUING TO BE MORE ACTIVE THAN EVER

TJ: With the economic crisis, are you afraid of a flare of populism and extremism?

RP: This is always a fear when there is a social crisis; and the current economic crisis is likely to become a social crisis… We cannot pretend that there are not innumerable messages on Internet and elsewhere saying that Jews are responsible for the economic crisis… All the republican parties in France are making sure that no excesses are allowed to slip past. We must be careful, though, because in some English-speaking newspapers and elsewhere, some very worrying texts are starting to appear taking this line.

TJ: Guilad Shalit has been held by Hamas since 25^th June 2006. Do you think he will soon be freed?

RP: More than 1000 appalling days. We need to imagine what the parents are feeling, and we can’t even begin to imagine what Guilad is feeling. Nicolas Sarkozy has expressed his support to the Shalit family, and he mentions the situation in every international meeting with Israel and the Arab countries. I would like to hear the Red Cross speak out on this. All members of Hamas (many of whom have blood on their hands) who are held prisoner in Israel have the usual guarantees, and the right to receive visits. I have the nasty feeling that we’re not very shocked that Guilad Shalit, the victim of a war crime, doesn’t have these guarantees. And I am proud that Israel is envisaging, as it has done in the past, freeing hundreds of terrorists in order to free a single person, despite the risk for the country and the bitterness felt by the victims’ families.

TJ: Durban 2, which will be held from 20^th to 24^th April in Geneva, will continue the debates begun in Durban. Should France boycott the meeting?

RP: … President Sarkozy declared at the CRIF dinner in February 2008 that there was no question of France taking part if certain specific red lines were crossed. This firm stance has paid off, because a new document has just been proposed in which the reference to Israel has disappeared... At least, not totally, because the document explicitly refers to accepting the 2001 Durban texts… which stigmatised Israel. This amended text remains unacceptable, and we are continuing to be more active than ever. On 22^nd April in Geneva, CRIF is jointly organising a day of high level meetings on Human Rights and on the State of Israel, and we invite activists and institutions to take part.”