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French cancer group said behind ‘Palestine’ map

Distributed to schools in Paris, map labels Israel as Palestine; Wiesenthal Center urges Paris mayor to intervene

By ToI Staff and JTA 1 October 2015, 4:07 pm 4

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City of Paris map showing Palestine at bottom right

The Simon Wiesenthal Center on Thursday urged a withdrawal of support for the French League Against Cancer and its patrons, saying the organization had produced a map which labeled Israel as “Palestine” and which was subsequently distributed to elementary schools in Paris.

In a letter to Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, the center urged her to “take steps to recall these scurrilous ‘diaries’, identify and dismiss the antisemite responsible for this geographical revisionism and publicly condemn this travesty.” It also registered a complaint with the World Health Organization.

Responding last week to parents who complained about the distribution of the map at public schools, the City of Paris said it was the result of “a simple production error.”

The map, which ends north of central Israel the West Bank, designates the territory of Israel included in it as “Palestine,” alongside Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. In addition to omitting Israel’s name, it contains no mention of Saudi Arabia and Jordan, though it contains parts of those countries.