(JTA) — A former French government minister said Germany “took our Jews and gave us Arabs.” Patrick Devedjian, who served in the governments of presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, made the comments Friday during a news conference as France began taking in Syrian refugees, the French news agency AFP reported. He later walked back the comments. “My humorous jest was misplaced,” Devedjian, who is Armenian, wrote on his Twitter account. France has said it will take 24,000 refugees over the next two years. Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed