"The powerful extremist Jewish lobby in France did not succeed in misleading the French public opinion," Hass said

By Hadi Yahmid, IOL Correspondent

PARIS , May 25 (IslamOnline.net) – Almost half of the French people see Israel in a bad light due to its repressive policies in the occupied Palestinian territories, a French poll has revealed.

Up to 48% percent of those interviewed said the incessant Israeli aggressions on the Palestinians have left a very bad impression about Israel , showed the survey, which has been published recently in the French press.

French activist Janet Hass, the chairperson of the pro-Palestinians L’ Olive et La Pierre NGO, said the poll demonstrated that an increasing number of the French people regard Israel as an occupying power "governed by a bunch of killers and war criminals".

"The Israeli demolition of thousands of Palestinian homes in [the southern Gaza Strip city of] Rafah, the blind assassinations [of resistance leaders] and last but not least the indiscriminate shooting of a peaceful rally including women and children by Israeli gunships can tell why many French people support the Palestinian cause," she told IslamOnline.net Monday, May 24.

A week-long Israeli incursion into Rafah has left up to 57 people dead and displaced more than 1,650 residents, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid condemned the offensive as "not humane", making Israel "looks like monsters to the rest of the world".

The U.N. Security Council passed  a resolution on Wednesday, May 19, with a rare U.S. abstention, condemning Israel for its practices in Rafah.

France ’s mass-circulation paper Le Monde on Thursday, May 20, dismissed the Israeli offensive as a "dirty war" launched by occupation forces against the Palestinians.

‘Not Stupid’

Hass said the French people are not "stupid" and do not bow to pressures and blackmail in the name of anti-Semitism.

She said the powerful extremist Jewish lobby in France did not succeed in misleading the French public opinion.

Israel ’ approval ratings in France have hit an all-time low given that 44% of the French saw Israel in favorable light in a 2001 poll carried out by the Israeli Embassy.

An E.U. poll released last October showed that 59 percent of Europeans regard Israel as the biggest threat to world peace. 

The Palestinian cause has managed to drum up European support recently.

On May 10, pro-Palestinians French activists drew up a self-styled slate to run in the European Parliament’s elections on June 13, so that the Palestinian cause would take center stage at the European theatre.

Dubbed "The Euro-Palestine Slate," the list includes 15 prominent rights and civil society activists, who will take their case to the Europeans and highlight the daily sufferings of the Palestinians.