Outrage over Toulouse-Gaza comparison

THE European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton responded to Israeli outrage on Tuesday, and clarified comments that seemed to draw a parallel between the recent Toulouse murders and the suffering of children in Gaza.

Speaking to Palestinian children in Brussels on Monday, Lady Ashton included the suffering of children in Gaza when listing instances where young civilians have been cruelly killed – in Toulouse, in last year’s Norway mass murder, and in Syria.

A transcript posted on her website had her saying, “When we think of what happened in Toulouse today, when we remember what happened in Norway a year ago, when we know what is happening in Syria, when we see what is happening in Gaza and in different parts of the world, we remember young people and children who lose their lives.”

Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak responded by claiming in a statement: “The comparison made by Ashton between what is happening in Gaza to what happened in Toulouse, and what is going on in Syria every day, is outrageous and has absolutely no grounding in reality.”

He added: “The IDF operates in Gaza with great care and precision, in order to protect the lives of innocents.

“I hope that Catherine Ashton quickly realises her mistake and rethinks her comments.”

On Tuesday morning, at an emergency meeting of the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, chairman Danny Danon declared: “The envoy’s words show the true face of the EU’s hostility towards Israel.”

He continued: “I have demanded that she apologise immediately or resign from her position. There is no place for such a heinous comparison.”

Minutes after the meeting, Lady Ashton’s office sent Danon a letter insisting that she “did not draw any parallels whatsoever between the murders at the Ozar Hatorah school, which she strongly condemns, and the situation in Gaza”.

The letter also stated that Ashton “strongly condemns the killings at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse yesterday and extends her sympathies to the families and friends of the victims and to the people of France and the Jewish community.”

She reiterated these points in Brussels shortly afterwards.

In the afternoon, her office appeared to reach a realisation that she had mentioned Sderot in her speech, actually saying “we see what is happening in Gaza and Sderot”, and corrected the transcript accordingly.