French-Jewish groups condemn 'anti-Semitic' novel

French Jewish groups launched a fierce campaign against Palestine Dreams, a novel by Egyptian author Randa Ghazi, on the grounds that it promotes anti-Semitism.

The novel, written for teenaged readers, tells about sufferings of Palestinian children, describing their psychological and physical torture at the hands of Israeli occupation forces.

Members of the Israeli Soldiers' Welfare Society yesterday demonstrated outside the premises of the Flammarion publishing house in Paris, to protest the sale of the book.

Flammarion refuted claims that the novel was in any way anti-Semitic, saying that no complaints of this nature had been received from any country where the book has been distributed.