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Dror Eydar

Dror Eydar is the former Israeli ambassador to Italy.

France is a partner in shame

1.

On Dec. 10, two Palestinian organizations – one openly declared, the other of which uses Israeli cover – will receive the Human Rights Award from the French government. The two groups deserve each other, and they both fight against Israel and the Jews' return to their homeland. They both talk about morality, but their activities promote the opposite. They both work in response to international pressure on the Jewish state, which urges us to agree to their suicidal peace plans. One organization is B'Tselem, whose director Hagai El-Ad travels the world, slandering Israel and inviting the nations of the world to intervene and call to order these Jews who for some reason insist on defending themselves and holding on to their historic lands in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.

This isn't the first time that the activity of El-Ad and his organization creates the impression that for them, human rights include everyone except the Jews. In the imaginary Palestine, which sees to celebrate the destruction of Israel, heaven forbid, El-Ad would be an honored citizen.

2.

The other organization being awarded the sketchy honor is Al-Haq, which hates Israel and the Jews and uses every platform to support the BDS movement and boycott of Israel, meaning wiping it off the map. In February 2016, the group declared it "the right of every individual to take part in and support BDS activity." Their call decreed that the European Union's steps to label products made in Israeli settlements was insufficient, and they are demanding a total boycott of Israeli goods. For them, all of Israel is a "settlement" that must be uprooted from the Middle East, under the guise of "protecting human rights."

Al-Haq encourages the world to fight Israel in the courts, over "war crimes and crimes against humanity" – a reference to our war against terrorism. The organization has suggested attacking the Israeli legal system by "flooding the Supreme Court with petitions in the hope of overwhelming its workload and resources." Last July, the head of the organization declared that convicted terrorists had a "right" to receive a salary from the Palestinian Authority.

This is how the organization described the events leading up to Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014: "On June 12, 2014, three settler boys disappeared near the city of Hebron in the West Bank; the three were later found dead." What do you think? "Disappeared" and "were found dead" – it happens, doesn't it? Like I said, this kind of "human rights" does not include the Jews' right to life.

3.

Wait for the cherry on the cake: The director of Al-Haq, Shawan Jabareen, is a well-known lover of Israel. In June 2007, the Israeli Supreme Court described him as follows: "The petitioner [Jabareen] apparently operates as a kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; he spends some of his working time as executive director of a rights group, and the rest as an operative in a terrorist organization [the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine] that does not hesitate to commit murder and attempted murder, and has nothing to do with rights, and actually rejects the most basic right of all, the most fundamental right, without which there are no others – the right to life." These are B'Tselem's friends. It's no coincidence.

Irish Senator Frances Black was quick to congratulate the recipients of the French prize, saying their activity helped her bring a bill to boycott products from Israeli settlements, which she called a "war crime," to a final vote. Birds of a feather.

4.

And now for those who are conferring the honor. It's very doubtful that French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet truly knows to whom she will be awarding the prize. This is not the first time the French government has taken part in such an immoral disgrace. A perverted relationship has been created there that gives prizes to haters of Israel that support terrorism and who use the term "human rights" in vain.

In 2012, the French government gave the prize to none other than the Alternative Information Center for "its work in exposing Israel's lack of culpability in the occupied Palestinian territories." This is an even more extremist organization than B'Tselem (it's hard to compete with them, but they manage it) that supports the Palestinian demand to return to Israel, as well as BDS, of course, and accuses us of genocide and a bunch of other crimes. It's heartening to know that the head of the organization, Michel Warschawski, an anti-Zionist Marxist, was tried and imprisoned in the 1990s for aiding the PFLP.

Here's a suggestion for the government of France – let's drop the pretense and call the prize by an appropriate name: the prize for the rights of those who oppose (sometimes with fire and bloodshed) the Jews' return to Zion.

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