PMW director quoted in article about Paris museum exhibit on Palestinian suicide bombers

A Paris museum has drawn outrage from France’s Jewish community over a display depicting photos of Palestinian suicide bombers as martyrs.

Untitled (Death No. 33), by Ahlam Shibli, a photo showing the house of a Palestinian suicide bomber. The photo is part of an exhibit entitled Death depicting Palestinian suicide bombers as ‘martyrs’ at the taxpayer-subsidized Jeu De Paume Museum.

The exhibit is described on the Paris museum’s website as showing “how Palestinian society preserves the presence of the ‘martyrs.’”

According to CRIF, the representative council of Jewish institutions in France, the display features what it calls ‘martyrs’ from Palestinian terror groups including the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

“It is regrettable to have an exhibition in the middle of Paris showcasing the justification of terrorism,” said Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, Paris director for the American Jewish Committee. “Not to provide any context at a time when France is trying to fight against the importation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems entirely irresponsible.”

Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch, explained that the “greatest motivation for terror is glorifying the terrorists, adopting their ideologies, and honouring them as freedom fighters.

“It is this success of terror that breeds more terrorists. The blood of many civilians…will be on the hands of the Jeu De Paume Museum and those who embrace terror around the world, who are convincing future suicide bombers that their murderous deaths will have purpose.”

In a letter written on June 5 to France’s Culture and Communications Minister Aurelie Filipetti, CRIF President Roger Cukierman called on the French government to intervene.

“It is particularly regrettable and unacceptable that in the heart of Paris such a display should apologize for terrorism,” wrote Cukierman, according to a translated CRIF statement.