President Shimon Peres, this morning (Sunday, 10 March 2013), in France,
conducted a special meeting with the heads of the Jewish community of France
and with a delegation of Imams including the heads of the Egyptian, African,
Moroccan and Senegalese communities and heads of central mosques. The
meeting took place the day before memorial events in France to mark one year
since the terrorist attacks in
Toulouse<www.mfa.gov.
tims_Toulouse_attack_buried_
During the meeting with the Imams, President Peres was pleased by their
support for Israel, their moderate approach and tolerance towards other
faith communities and their vocal, steadfast opposition to terror in all its
forms. At the start of the meeting Imam Chalghoumi talked about the memorial
events one year after the terrorist attacks in France (March 11th and March
15th) and said, „Tomorrow, March 11th, is a terrible day of mourning for us,
a day on which terror struck from which we all suffered. I wanted to tell
you, Mr. President, that we Muslims are victims like the Jews, of the same
extremist who went on a journey of murder, who took the lives of children.
We are here to say to our brothers the Jews and the French: We are all
threatened by terror, hurt by terror and we all call with optimism for peace
at the end of this terrible year. We teach the believers that human life is
holier than the holy sites! Holier than Mecca, the Vatican or Jerusalem”
President Peres thanked the Imam for his words and expressed his
appreciation, „Whoever was responsible for the murder of French citizens and
Jewish children in Toulouse showed the ugly face of terror, and your words
show the way of peace. You are leaders of an Islam which seeks peace, as we
do. I am very grateful for your words, and I thank you for coming. I see in
you brothers in this path, dialogue between us is important and valuable and
that is why this meeting between us is so important. We will work together,
for all the peoples of the world, for Israeli’s and Palestinians, for peace
in the world.”
Imam Chalghoumi addressed the issue of the approach of the Muslim community
leadership towards the State of Israel and said that the delegation are
interested in bridging the gap between faiths and peoples, „The
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not an excuse to hate the State of Israel –
we are not interested in that hate and do not believe in it. We visited
Israel and saw the country, we want to know Israel as it really is and to
get to know people from different perspectives.”
During President Peres’s visit with the Jewish community the leaders of the
community in France, including the leadership of the community in Toulouse,
updated President Peres on manner in which they have been coping since the
murders a year ago. They asked to hear from President Peres about ways in
which the peace process with the Palestinians could be re-started, the
latest developments with regards to Iran and the general situation in the
Middle East in light of the Arab Spring. President Peres and the community
leadership also discussed incidents of anti-Semitism in France.
President Shimon Peres and OECD Secretary-General Gurria presented a plan to
create an economic organization made up of global companies and world
leaders for investment in the Middle East
President Shimon Peres, on Friday afternoon, 8 March 2013, held a working
meeting with OECD Angel Gurria, at the organization’s headquarters in Paris
and presented a new economic initiative to create an international body made
up of global companies to invest in the Middle East and developing world.
According to the proposed initiative, the international body will bring
together leading global companies and will assist in the progress and
economic development of Middle Eastern countries. President Peres said that
the main problems in the Middle East are instability, terrorism and
unemployment and that the initiative will provide a solution for the issues
of hunger and unemployment in the region. The new organization will provide
a coordinating mechanism which, through the global companies, will put in
place projects for economic investment and development, building of
infrastructure and new technologies in the Middle East and developing
countries.
President Peres stressed that, „The State of Israel is an example of the
fact that the key to prosperity and economic independence is not natural
resources but investment in technology and hi-tech. Israel will continue to
share the knowledge it has gained in the fields of technology, renewable
energy and agriculture and continue to lead within the OECD new
international initiatives which will provide solutions for the Middle East
and developing countries in the fields of technology, infrastructure,
communication and healthcare.”
In that regard President Peres added that developing countries and the
countries of the Middle East face significant challenges including high
unemployment, hunger and poverty. With the business ability of the global
companies and new technologies, including Israeli technology, it will be
possible to create hi-tech incubators in those countries that need which
will develop the local economy especially in light of the political and
budgetary challenges being faced by governments and the potential positive
impact of global companies.
The Secretary-General of the OECD said to President Peres that Israel has
made a significant contribution to the OECD, „Israel has become an important
contributor to the OECD’s work. Its knowledge on key areas for the viability
of our economies, like water management, „clean-techs” and entrepreneurship,
is becoming a source of best practices.”
Following their meeting the two presented the initiative to the senior forum
of the OECD which included hundreds of representatives of global companies
and senior leaders of the OECD.
