The Paris region stripped French journalist and anti-Islamist activist Zainab Al-Ghazoui of an award she won four years ago, after she shared a controversial post likening Israel's bombing of Gaza to the Holocaust.
In 2019, Al-Ghazawi was awarded the Simone Veil Prize, named after the French Holocaust survivor and political activist defending women’s rights, in honor of her work in the field of “defending secularism and the struggle against obscurantism in all its forms and for equality between women and men.”
Al-Ghazwi, of Moroccan origin, is a writer and television commentator. On Saturday, she re-published a statement on the “X” platform that appears to accuse Israel of committing “genocide” and likens its policies towards the Palestinians to Nazi practices against the Jews during World War II.
Aurélien Veil, grandson of Simone Veil, in response to what Al-Ghazoui published, expressed his concern that her post would contribute to “downplaying the genocide committed by the Nazis,” calling on the Paris region to take action.
Yesterday, Sunday, Valérie Pécresse, President of the Ile-de-France region, indicated that she had withdrawn the award she had given to El-Ghazoui in honor of her “struggle against Islamists” because the comment she had republished on the X platform “caused terrible harm” to the French people who lived through the Holocaust.
“Her (Ghazwi) recent statements... including the republication and comparison between Auschwitz and the Israeli response to Hamas terrorists in Gaza, is outrageous and shocking,” Bekris explained.
Al-Ghazawi responded on the “X” platform, expressing her belief that honoring Phil’s memory requires “rising up against all killers of civilians, regardless of their nationality or religion.”
She added: "By denouncing the mass crimes committed by Israel in Gaza and also the crimes of Hamas against Israeli civilians, I honor Simon Fell's legacy more than ever."
Al-Ghazawi was an article writer for the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in 2015, when two brothers attacked its headquarters in an operation that left 12 dead. It came in response to the newspaper’s publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Al-Ghazawi resigned in 2016.
Her receipt of the Simoneville Award in 2019 sparked controversy after she appeared to call on the police to respond more decisively to the unrest near Paris, even by using “live bullets.”
The death toll from the Israeli bombing on the Gaza Strip rose to 18,205, according to what the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Monday.
Israeli forces continue to bomb the cities and governorates of the northern and southern Gaza Strip as the war enters its 66th day, amid violent clashes and international fears of a worsening humanitarian catastrophe.
A man has been arrested for threatening to kill US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy
Fox News reported that an American man, Tyler Anderson, had been arrested for threatening to kill the US presidential candidate who opposes Ukraine, Vivek Ramaswamy.
In response to a notification from campaign headquarters about a speech by candidate Ramaswamy in Portsmouth, Anderson sent a message saying: "Great, another chance for me to blow his brains out,I will kill everyone who is there and assault their bodies."
Anderson faces up to five years in prison.
It is noteworthy that if Ramaswamy wins, he wants to offer President Putin a deal regarding Ukraine.
Ramaswamy called Zelensky a "clown."
Earlier, Ramaswamy wrote on his page on the “X” platform: “Ukraine is not a true democratic country, and Christians are being persecuted.”
He added, "Things in Ukraine are going really bad."
New presidential elections will be held in the United States in November 2024. Former US President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former US delegate to the United Nations Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and others are competing for the Republican nomination.Current US President Joe Biden announced last April his intention to run for re-election from the Democratic Party.