French television producer and host Thierry Ardisson has apologized for his comments on the situation in the Gaza Strip. On France 2 public television last Saturday evening, during the weekly “Quelle époque!” talk show, he declared that the Gaza Strip “is Auschwitz, that’s it, that’s all there is to it.”
His statement drew angry reactions within the Jewish community.
Yonathan Arfi, president of CRIF, the umbrella organization of Jewish institutions of France, declared: “No, Thierry Ardisson, Gaza is not Auschwitz. The memory of the Shoah is never so much called into public debate as by those who want to turn it against the Jews.
“Since October 7 2023, I have deplored the distress of all civilian populations, Israeli and Palestinian. But for what other conflict do we use these comparisons with the Shoah? No criticism of Israel justifies Nazifying it,” Arfi said.
The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA) said it “condemns once again the trivialization of outrageous comparisons and the prevailing confusion.”
“Nazism and the Shoah are not the alpha and omega of all national and international crisis. Gaza is not Auschwitz,” it wrote on X.
In a statement sent to AFP, as well as to French-Israeli lawyer, author and columnist Gilles-William Goldnadel, a former president of the France-Israël Association and an ex-member of the CRIF Steering Committee, Thierry Ardisson apologized.
“The emotion was undoubtedly too strong and my remarks exaggerated,” he said. “I ask my Jewish friends to forgive me,” he added, recalling that he had repeatedly taken a public stance against antisemitism.
Goldanel criticized the host of the program, Léa Salamé, for not having challenged this “appalling comparison” made by Ardisson.
“Once again, I see that the public broadcasting is becoming the main instrument of hatred of Israel and the manufacturer of antisemitism. This is why I have decided to lodge a complaint with ARCOM,” said Goldnadel.
ARCOM (the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication) is a French independent administrative agency.
Originally published by the European Jewish Press.