Monday, March 24, 2008

French official over for anti-Israel "slur"


"Senior civil servant sacked for writing in online column Israel is 'only state where snipers shoot down little girls outside their school gates'

A French senior civil servant has been sacked for publishing a violent anti-Israeli diatribe on a website, the Interior Ministry said.

The atricle was published on March 13 on the Oumma.com website, which serves the Muslim community in France. Bruno Guigue, deputy prefect of the southwestern town of Saintes, wrote that Israel was "the only state where snipers shoot down little girls outside their school gates."

The author of several books on the Israli-Palestinian conflict, Guigue wrote of the "Israeli jails where – thanks to religious law – they stop torturing on the Sabbath."

The article sparked a row in the country and was harshly condemned by politicians from all sides of the political arena.

Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie dismissed the official after learning of the column on Wednesday, the ministry said.

Oumma.com, which is said to have 6 million unique users per month, presents itself as "the first website for French-speaking Muslims worldwide."......"

Also, on this story, please see this in Le Monde, Contributed by Fatima:

Un sous-préfet limogé après avoir publié une tribune anti-israélienne

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