Armed members of Jewish Defense League forced way into Paris museum

The BDS France Campaign- On Sunday November 21, 2010, more than 30 members of the Jewish Defense League forced their way into the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, which was showing an exhibition of photographs from Gaza taken by Kai Wiedenhöfer. Armed, wearing helmets and hoods in some cases, group members tried to reach the basement exhibition room in order to vandalize the photographer's work, but were prevented from doing so by the museum security staff.

The JDL next directed their attention at visitors, by blocking everyone who attempted to reach the exhibition, forcing the administration to close the museum and to announce a postponement of the exhibition.The CRIF (Representative council of Jewish institutions in France) had also reacted violently, calling for the closure of the exhibition, which they accused of "focusing against Israel", and going so far as to call it a "propaganda operation".

Between December 2008 and January 2009 the Israeli army killed 1380 people, 430 of them children. Today defenders of Israel are trying to erase all traces of this criminal war waged against a civilian population.

Censorship is unacceptable, and the reaction of the CRIF, accompanied by the violent acts of the JDL, are intolerable.Our democratic freedoms must be defended!

We demand that the law apply everywhere and to all, that those responsible for these violent attacks be brought to justice, and that the exhibition be immediately reopened to the public.