Cloud over France

[Fight_n_back]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/435932.html

If in the end it turns out that the stabbing of yeshiva student Yisrael Yifrah in Paris on Friday was criminally motivated; if the investigation reveals that the attacker did not shout in praise of Allah and if it is proved that the knife was not wielded in the name of national conflict - even then the French republic will not be able to turn a blind eye to the heavy cloud of anti-Semitism that has hung over the birthplace of liberty, equality and fraternity for the past two years. Since the start of this year 76 people have been arrested in France on suspicion of committing violent acts motivated by anti-Semitism.
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The expressions of hatred are age-old - from redistributions of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" to racial slurs not heard since the late `30s. Today anti-Semitism blames all of the world's ills on Zionism and the State of Israel, and its proponents are now not just the xenophobic right, but also from the radical left. The French left, which calls for a boycott of Israel and Zionism in the name of enlightened humanism, employs an extreme set of arguments that is blind and one-dimensional.

Its representatives define all of Israel's citizens, and hence all Jews, as a race of thuggish soldiers, and all Palestinians, including terrorist organizations, as innocent victims of Jewish nationalism. It may be supposed that this dialectic, which provides an easy outlet for the frustrations of many Muslims who suffer from racism and discrimination in France, contributes in no small degree to fanning violence against Jews.
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This attitude that is common among philosophers and influential members of academia on the left, pushes French Jews into a corner. An outspoken minority does indeed favor continued occupation and the blunt militarist policies of Ariel Sharon's government, but all the rest, including those who might wish to freely protest against Israel's actions, are helplessly silenced by the infamous mark of racism and Nazism stamped on the Jewish people's legitimate national desires.

Israel's policy warrants harsh criticism, but it does not in any way justify outbursts of hatred. Sixty years after the allied invasion of Normandy, that tremendous operation that marked the beginning of the final rout of Nazism in Europe, Jacques Chirac's France would do well to redouble its efforts to wipe out the violent anti-Semitism that is once again rearing its head.
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[Lithos]

1. I think there is quite a slam here towards the French

French society is having tremendous problems with the (non) integration of Muslims who have distanced themselves from integration into Republican France. If Anti-Semitism was so wide-spread, the government and the constabulary would not be pushing as hard to arrest and punish the culprits.

While people like LePen on the far right and various extreme leftist groups have denounced Pro-israel policies for years, their energies have been primarily political and verbal. It is the immigrants who seem to behind the rise in physical attacks.

http://www.factsofisrael.com/blog/archives/000173.html

[Fight_n_back]

2. From my reading of the article

it is essentially agreeing with what you said.

[TO Kid]

3. I wouldn't call them immigrants

They have the attitude of colonizers, and unfortunately it's not just in France. The biggest problem is that too few muslims are willing to speak out against the extremists for fear of reprisals, not unlike the omerta among the first couple of generations of Italian immigrants to North America.

I've noticed a very disturbing trend among muslim immigrants here in Toronto- they seem to be deliberately isolating themselves from mainstream life. Most immigrants here try very hard to integrate into the social fabric, but these people are sending their kids to islamic schools and patronizing muslim-owned businesses exclusively. It's nothing like I've seen among other ethnic groups in Toronto- Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown and the Polish/Ukrainian neighbourhoods have always cheerfully welcomed us natives (if for no other reason than to get us to spend money), but the current wave of muslim immigrants treat the locals here with open contempt. It is nothing like the last wave of muslims who came here, primarily from India and Pakistan in the 70s and 80s. My assistant is a muslim whose parents came to Canada in the 80s and he and his brother were raised like most immigrant kids are, they are fiercely loyal to this country. In his family's case, his parents made it clear that Canada was the best place in the world because unlike India and East Africa, in this country they don't get shot at and run off their land for their beliefs. The newer arrivals are teaching their kids that we are inferior to them and if they succeed their attitude will turn this country into the kind of intolerant hellholes they left behind.

[Dilbertio]

4. I don't really agree with this article....

The anti-semitism you can see today is different from the traditional anti-semitism you can still see with Le Pen.

Basically, the old anti-semitism, which reached its peak during WW2, was based on the fact that jewish were far more religiously "motivated" than the catholics were, and that they were jewish first, and french second. It is quite interesting that Pétain himself made exemptions towards jewish who were soldiers during World War I.

The new anti-semitism we have here is "imported". I don't think it has anything to do with the position of muslims in France. Personnally, I think that it happens in France because
she has the third jewish population in the world, with an important poor muslim population, and the two communities are spacially very close.
But I really think that you would see that in all arab countries, were they still having jewish communities...
Not that the french government shouldn't do more against every racist actions, and especially anti-semitism, since it is the biggest problem we've got here.

[bobbieinok]

5. what you say about the current Islamic immigrants should have its own

thread.....maybe in GD, so more people will see it and discuss it

[TO Kid]

7. Perhaps

Trouble is, in GD it would take about 0.385 nanoseconds to become a flame war. Maybe in Civil Rights, but given some of the responses to the post about the calls to prayer I'm not overly optimistic.

[Ottmar]

6. Propaganda

"... to the heavy cloud of anti-Semitism that has hung over the birthplace of liberty, equality and fraternity for the past two years."

Two years ago, Bush started to talk about WMDs in Iraq and the axis of evil. What a coincidence.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Career Prole]

9. Sonny-boy!

You'll be under a "tombstone" faster than Ronnie at this rate!
Buh-bye! :hi: