Small French cinema chain protests Israeli raid on flotilla heading for Gaza

Small French cinema chain protests Israeli raid

PARIS — A small French cinema chain has made waves by postponing this month’s showing of an Israeli comedy to protest the country’s deadly May 31 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.

The Utopia cinema chain replaced “Five Hours from Paris” with the documentary “Rachel,” about an American student crushed to death by a bulldozer in 2003 while protesting Israeli house demolitions in Gaza.

The chain says it was the “only way to express disapproval” about the flotilla raid, which killed nine people.

The French Jewish organization Crif said the decision shows that “knee-jerk anti-Israel sentiment has no limits.”

Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand wrote to the chain to express “disapproval” of its decision, Le Figaro newspaper reported on its Web site.