Leaders of the French Muslim community boycotted a major event hosted by the country’s largest Jewish group, CRIF, after its leader said that young Muslims are behind “all violent acts” in France.
Roger Cukierman,
president of Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de
France (CRIF), made the controversial comments just hours before
French President François Hollande was due to give a speech at
the annual dinner hosted by the Jewish group.
“All violence, and we must say this, all violent acts today
are committed by young Muslims. Of course, that’s a small
minority of the Muslim community and the Muslims are the first
victims,” Cukierman told Europe 1 radio station on Monday.
He also supported the use of the term “Islamo-fascism,”
introduced by French Interior Minister Manuel Valls earlier this
month.
In response, leaders of the Muslim group CFCM (French Council of
the Muslim Faith) boycotted the CRIF event and condemned
Cukierman’s comments as “irresponsible and unacceptable.”
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– Council of Europe
“I don’t think Mr.
Cukierman is someone who will contribute to us all living
together peacefully,” Abdallah Zekri, head of a CFCM
department that deals with Islamophobic incidents, told BFMTV
television.
Cukierman attempted to
backtrack on his statements, saying that he “deeply regretted”
the absence of the Muslim group at the dinner.
“Jews and Muslims are all in the same boat and I hope that
contact will swiftly be re-established,” he added.
About 700 guests were present at the annual event.
The row comes just over a month after a series of attacks by
Islamist militants at the offices of French satirical newspaper
Charlie Hebdo and a Paris kosher supermarket that claimed 17
lives.