French Court Nixes Honor for 1982 Terrorist Killer of Israeli Diplomat
A French court nullified an honorary title conferred on the murderer of an Israeli diplomat.
The administrative court of Montreuil on Thursday nullified the honorary residency that the suburb of Bagnolet conferred on Georges Abdallah, according to a report published on Friday by the Le Figaro daily.
Abdallah, a pro-Palestinian militant, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 his role in the 1982 assassinations of Yacov Bar-Simantov, a second counsellor at the Israeli embassy in Paris, and Charles Ray, a U.S. military attache serving in Paris.
Bagnolet’s city council, where the Communist party has a majority, declared him an honorary citizen on Dec. 11, and called him a political prisoner who should be released. That motion was challenged in court by opposition aldermen, according to JSSnews.com.
The attorney representing the opposition, Jeremie Boulay, told the news site that the court’s decision was based on regulations limiting municipalities to acting on items that will lead to the betterment of the lives of residents.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.