By Itzhak Rabihiya Jerusalem Mayor Lion Inaugurates Jerusalem Square in Paris. Mayor of Israel’s capital applauds move, as far-left Parisian city council members demand it be annulled Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion inaugurated on Sunday Jerusalem Square in Paris in the presence of Mayor Anne Hidalgo and the Israeli Ambassador to France, Aliza Bin-Noun, Head of the Consistoire, Joel Margi, the Chief Rabbi of France, Haïm Korsia, and the Chief Rabbi of Paris, Michel Gugenheim. The square is located in Paris's 17th arrondissement. Several dozen people staged a protest rally Sunday in Paris’s 17th district, as Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and Jewish community leaders applauded the unveiling of the sign honoring the Israeli capital. Paris used to have a Jerusalem Square until 1893, when it was renamed. Joel Mergui, president of the Concictoire Communal Jewish organization, requested that the municipal naming committee to rededicate a square for Jerusalem. The committee voted in favor of the move in April. Following the approval, the city council members of the France Unbowed far-left movement demanded it be annulled, arguing that naming a square for Jerusalem at present does not advance a vision of the city serving as the capital of a Palestinian state, as well as Israel. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo rejected this argument.“Amid this resurgence of racist and anti-Semitic violence, it’s good to recall the ties between Paris and the Jewish community and to celebrate the friendship that unites Paris with the State of Israel,” she said in a statement. Jerusalem also has a Paris Square in its Rehavia neighborhood, originally inaugurated as the France Square in 1959. Last January, the President of Israel, Mr. Reuven Rivlin and his wife, Nechama, visited Paris. During the visit, they were informed by the mayor of Paris that there is an "Israel Square" in the city, but there is no sign that bears the name of the capital of Israel - Jerusalem. Today, a few months later, the two mayors inaugurated this square.
Mayor Lion said: "I want to thank Mayor Hidalgo and the city of Paris for this beautiful initiative to name a square in honor of Jerusalem. This act strengthens the bond between our cities - two cities that have left their mark on the world. As Mayors, promoting tolerance, love and peace in our cities is a top priority. We must do all in our power to create and ensure coexistence and companionship between different sectors and religious groups.”
Photo Credit: Jerusalem Municipality Spokesperson's Unit | 
