While, at the request of Prime Minister François Bayrou's office, the Paris Air Show (SIAE) had hastily erected barricades to hide booths that five Israeli companies had set up at the show in the northern Paris suburb of Le Bourget in June, it failed to quell the controversy.

According to information Le Monde was able to acquire, several Palestinian rights advocacy groups – Lawyers for Justice in the Near East (AJPO), the Jewish French Union for Peace (UJFP), the West Bank-based group Al-Haq, Survie ("Survival") and NIDAL, coordinated by the legal collective Law and Social Movements (DMS) and the War to War coalition – are taking legal action against the company that organizes the SIAE, accusing them of having hosted companies that could be found complicit of international crimes, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The lawsuit was filed with a court in the department where the SIAE is headquartered, on October 8.

When contacted for comment, the French Aerospace Industries Association (GIFAS), which runs the SIAE, said it was aware of the legal proceedings but did not wish to comment.

You have 73.71% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.