The Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo.

JNS.org – French parliamentarian Meyer Habib was recently informed that a financial grant he initiated for an Israeli association in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo has been withheld because the organization sits just beyond the Green Line, Israel Hayom reported.

In December 2013, Habib—who was selected about a year ago to represent French citizens living in Middle Eastern countries—received the French government’s permission to grant $4,100 to the Daat Menachem association, which provides assistance to French-Israeli students studying in Jerusalem. French parliamentarians may offer financial contributions as part of their authority.

Habib said the decision to withhold the funds unfairly distinguished among Jerusalem residents.

“The decision is shocking, unfair, and works to ostracize residents of Jerusalem and Gilo in particular,” Habib wrote in a letter to French ForeignMinister Laurent Fabius. “Everybody knows that no matter what agreement is reached [with the Palestinians], the neighborhood of Gilo will remain a part of the State of Israel.”