Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli denounced Pro-Palestinian activists allegedly denying entry of Jewish students to a Paris University.
The incident in which Comité Palestine de Sciences Po Paris and other pro-Palestinian activists reportedly refused to allow Jewish students to access Sciences Po University’s Émile-Boutmy amphitheater was, according to Chikli, “one of the worst we have seen in recent times.”
“What we saw was the screening of Jewish students, to the cheers of a crowd of inflamed students, most of whom undoubtedly don’t understand the seriousness of their actions,” said Chikli. “Whoever thinks there is a big difference between the denying the rights of Jews to exist for Jewish reasons and denying rights to exist as a nation — they are wrong and mistaken.”
CRIF President Yonathan Arfi said that the occupation of the lecture hall had replaced critical thinking and debate with violence and hatred and that the atmosphere of antisemitism had to end, or democracy would suffocate.
The European Jewish Congress decried the incident as a “blatant act of antisemitism.”
