The Hell of Seine-Saint-Denis

For decades in the United States we have watched our great cities turn into hell-holes. In a few cases, such as New York City, serious attempts have been made to turn things around, but no American city will ever recapture the past. Even with less crime, the effects of multi-culturalism, family decay and socialized education make life unbearable for those of us who remember how much fun it used to be to walk around town, dine out, go to the theater, and all the things one does in a civilized city. It is really "good-bye to all that", to quote Robert Graves.

Paris has been a city of crime (much of it unreported) for a long time, but the region of Seine-Saint-Denis probably makes the South Bronx look attractive. Three days ago rioting broke out again and continued into the following day. One riot looks very much like another, so I am giving a free adaptation of the Figaro article, rather than an exact translation:

For the second night in a row, gangs of "youth" clashed with police in Montfermeil and Clichy-sous-Bois. About ten cars were torched in these two cities. Around 11:00 p.m. an incendiary device was hurled into a police car causing it to catch fire. The four policemen inside had just enough time to get out, visibly shaken, when the fire erupted. A police helicopter was flying over the area.

Many trash can fires were set, and the police sent to put them out became targets of bottle-throwers.

Four policemen were slightly injured when they attempted to stop those who were throwing rocks at the police station on rue d'Utrillo in Montfermeil.

Among those detained for stone-throwing at the Bobigny police station was Muhittin Altun. He was the young man seriouly burned in an electrical transformer on October 27, 2005, while his two companions Zyed Bena and Bouna Traore perished. It was this incident that ignited last November's riots. Altun's lawyer Jean-Pierre Mignard claimed the charge of rock-throwing was ridiculous and expressed his conviction that Altun is innocent.

It happened that Nicolas Sarkozy was visiting the Gagny police station to address the officers who had been on duty the previous night when the home of the mayor of Montfermeil was attacked by rock-throwers. A few weeks earlier this mayor - Xavier Lemoine, had issued a curfew prohibiting minors from walking around in groups larger than three after 8:00 at night, a measure perceived as "provocative" by the ghetto-dwellers.

Addressing his officers, Sarkozy said: "More than 100 thugs wearing head-coverings and carrying weapons went after you. Their determination was such that it is imposssible to deny the obvious - this was pre-meditated. I will not allow disorder anywhere in the territory of the Republic. You must continue to fight against crime, we'll throw the book at them, because the French people are demanding security, and the thugs must be punished."

It is to be noted that Sarkozy also told his men to be respectful toward the people they questioned and not to use familiar language.

In the end he announced that there would be "measures taken in the coming days that would place the issue of minors before the French public. If so many of them indulge in violence, it's because they know they can get away with it. And impunity is tantamount to complicity", he concluded.

Note: Galliawatch published an article on life in Montfermeil several weeks ago.

Rue des Rosiers

If you are familiar with Paris, you know that rue des Rosiers is the heart of the Jewish neighborhood in the historic area known as the Marais. The Marais has always been a favorite tourist attraction. I don't know what it looks like today, but years ago, the Carnavalet Museum, the Place des Vosges and Victor Hugo's residence were spots where you could find me. From the Occidentalis Blog comes this not-surprising news:

Last Sunday, about thirty black men shouting anti-Semitic threats burst suddenly onto rue des Rosiers, in the heart of the Jewish quarter. According to Sammy Ghozlan, head of the BNCVA (National Bureau of Vigilance against Anti-Semitism), the demonstration was organized by the K Tribe. Police sources state that this group is "extremist, and demands recognition for its negritude" on its website.

In addition, the BNCVA, quoting witnesses, said that "individuals of African origin, all dressed in black and armed with poles and baseball bats, paraded by, shouting 'death to the Jews' and other anti-Semitic insults".

Witnesses questioned by AFP stated that they saw no weapons. They did hear voices clamoring for the leaders of Betar and the Jewish Defense League, two Jewish defense groups known for using tough tactics. "They were all big guys, they wore black head-scarves, it was super-organized. They had a camera and they were filming everybody", said one witness who wished to remain anonymous...

The police "came quickly"...and proceeded to check the identities of 19 persons, finding "no weapon", the authorities added. Police presence has been "re-enforced" in this district. On Monday, the police commisssioner announced that an inquiry had been opened after a complaint was filed. Monday evening, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy expressed the desire to start legal proceedings against the K Tribe.

According to Sammy Ghozlan, on May 21, a similar incident occurred at a Parisian sports club, when a gang burst in and threatened the young Jewish people who were working out...

I reported on the K Tribe (also written KA Tribe) and their threats to the Jewish community here. Their website, as I write this, is not accessible.

The photo is from a website called Marais.

Bad For the Planet

This article from OPT (Optimum Population Trust), a British group, is making the rounds of the French websites. Here is the beginning:

Britain should fulfil its humanitarian obligation to genuine refugees and asylum-seekers but it must also recognise that mass international migration is harming the planet’s environment as well as its own, according to the Optimum Population Trust.

Much migration is the consequence of areas becoming degraded through environmental damage, says the OPT in evidence to a Parliamentary inquiry on population. The priority is to repair the damage, through local and global action, and enable people to remain in their homes and communities. However, the promotion of migration by governments and international agencies is having the opposite effect. Mass migration is in consequence operating like a “scorched earth” policy on a global scale, with damaged areas of the Earth abandoned to their fate as their inhabitants leave.

In evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Population, Development and Reproductive Health., which is examining the impact of population growth on the Millennium Development Goals (see below) and on migration, the OPT says the current approach by international agencies is too heavily weighted in favour of the advantages of migration. This has occurred largely because attention has focused on short-term economic issues while the broader environmental impacts of mass migration have been ignored.

Worldwide, total numbers of migrants increased by up to 17 million between 2000 and 2005, from 175 million in 2000 to 185-192 million in 2005, according to UN figures. There are an estimated 30 million environmental refugees, a category expected to increase sharply.*

The OPT says the feedback effects of a deteriorating environment are causing further pressures on populations to emigrate – an estimated 135 million people may be driven from their lands by the spread of deserts, for example.* China alone, according to Pan Yue, deputy director of its state environment agency, “will have more than 150 million ecological migrants or…environmental refugees” out of a population currently put at 1.3 billion.** Climate change is a leading cause of degradation; other factors include soil erosion and water shortages.

Read the whole article here:

May 29, 1453

From Herodote (subscription required) comes this reminder of what might await us - again.

May 29, 1453 traditionally figures among the key dates of Western history. On that day, Constantinople fell into the hands of the Ottoman Mahomet II.

The city, last vestige of the Roman Empire and of the Byzantine Empire, into which it had been transformed, was the last link of the Western world with classical antiquity. It was also the last outpost of Christianity confronted with the onslaught of Islam. It's fall, though anticipated and predictible, aroused strong emotions in all of the Christian world. It confirmed the coming of a new historic age.

The prestigious capital of the Byzantine Empire had already been besieged twice by Muslim flotillas. It was during the early centuries of Islam. The first siege had lasted 5 years, from 673-677, the second "only" one year, in 717.

Both times, the besiegers - Arabs - had been routed thanks to a secret weapon known only to the Byzantines: Greek fire. It was a mysterious mixture of saltpeter, bitumen, and sulfur...that had the peculiar ability to burn on water. Hurled in the direction of enemy ships, it guaranteed they would burn. Despite this advantage, the Byzantines lost their weapons superiority as the centuries passed.

The fall of the "second Rome" became inevitable when new Muslim invaders, the Ottoman Turks, crossed the strait of Bosphorus that separates Europe from Asia, and seized the largest part of the Balkan peninsula. The city of Constantinople found itself almost completely isolated in the middle of territories conquered by the newcomers.

In the 14th century, Turkish victories at Kosovo and Nicopolis over coalition Christian armies pointed to the imminent fall of Constantinople. But fortunately, the defeat of the Turks at Angora (today Ankara), in the conflict with Tamerlane, delayed for half a century, the fateful deadline.

In the mid-15th century, the city of Emperor Constantine I, reduced to fewer than 100,000 inhabitants and deprived of its inland territories, was no longer even a shadow of its former self. It was just a little state at the juncture between the West and the Near East, and benefited greatly the merchants of Venice and Genoa. It had only 7000 Greek soldiers to defend it and a detachment of about 700 Genoans.

Help from the West did not arrive in time. For a while Sultan Mahomet II used all his resources against the Greeks with no success, until he devised a plan to hoist his ships onto a wooden glider, allowing them to slide down to the shores of the Golden Horn and thus circumvent the chain erected there to thwart access to the city.

Emperor Constantine XI died bravely with his last soldiers. The Turks, according to tradition, pillaged, raped and murdered for three days, then enslaved the remaining inhabitants.

The last surviving Byzantine scholars and artists took refuge in Italy forming the nucleus from which would spring the Renaissance.

The illustration is drawn from a 1455 manuscript and shows the siege of Constantinople with the Golden Horn to the left, and in the background, from left to right, the strait of Bosphorus and the sea of Marmara.

Memorial Day Art

In the United States we celebrate the men who have fallen for their country, and we always express the hope that they did not die in vain. With the recent amnesty bill passed by the Senate, the open-borders fever sweeping a Western world hastening to discard its heritage, the collapse of patriotism in our school systems that are bent on indoctrinating young minds into multi-culturalism, revising at will the history of the United States to suit the shallow trends of the times, it would appear that we are approaching the day when those of us old enough to have minds that still work right will say that they did indeed die in vain.

I don't want to believe this for now, but I fear it will be so.

These images span about 140 years, the top one being the most recent. The two vintage post-cards were too attractive to pass up. The one in the center is from 1909, and the last one, which I love, is obviously from after the Civil War (probably very early 20th century). For many years, Memorial Day was called Decoration Day, and at the outset it honored only the Civil War dead. After World War I the day was set aside to honor all war dead.

More information is available at US Memorial Day, and more fascinating postcards can be found here.

In the Words of Flaubert...

The great French writers of the past were considerably more honest and aware of the true nature of Islam than the writers of today who often grovel before the Muslims. Voltaire, even Rousseau, Saint-Ex, Malraux, and others were not afraid of calling fanaticism by its true name. E-tribesman, contributor at the François Desouche website, found this excerpt nestled in one of Flaubert's letters to Madame Roger des Genettes. The war referred to is probably one of the Egyptian campaigns, but I cannot be certain. Update June 5: According to E-tribesman the war in question was most likely the Crimean War.

It is probably the effect of the old Norman blood that runs in my veins, but since the war in the Near East, I am furious with England, furious to the point that I may become a Prussian! Tell me, please, what does she (England) want? Who attacked her? This pretentious notion of defending Islamism (in itself a monstrosity) I find exasperating. In the name of humanity I demand that the Black Stone be ground to dust and the ashes thrown to the four winds, that Mecca be destroyed and that Mahomet's tomb be sullied. That would be the way to demoralize fanaticism.

One reader comments:

...All these writers must be biting their lips in their graves when they see how France and Europe are now.

For information on the Black Stone of Mecca, try here.

The photo and original letter in French are from the University of Rouen.

Flaubert would more than bite his lips at my recent article on Mosque-building in France.

Lastly, note that he uses "Islamism". In French, this term is synonymous with "Islam".

Fleeing Denmark

There was a time when oppressed people dreamt of fleeing TO Denmark. Now, it is the opposite.

We all supported Denmark and the editor of Jyllands-Posten, Flemming Rose. But support is an abstraction, not a bullet-proof vest. It appears that Flemming Rose is contemplating an exile. Here are excerpts from a longer article at Occidentalis Blog.

Now that Eurabian Europe has banished the Dutch parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali, with no mercy for the woman who so energetically defended the values of her host country, it is Flemming Rose's turn. The cultural editor of the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten is throwing in the sponge, under pressure from the Muslims.

Like the twelve cartoonists, he and his family have been receiving death threats and are under constant police surveillance. Four months after the demonstrations of Muslim intolerance that rejected, on religious grounds, freedom of expression, thus initiating through violence a world-wide criminalization of blasphemy, the editor is thinking of exile in the United States.

He regrets nothing and laments the difficulties in which the twelve cartoonists find themselves - they are forced to hide and have trouble finding work. Said one of them, "Every time we think the matter is resolved, new threats emerge, most recently from al-Quaida, and the anxiety grips you again. It's hard, psychologically, it must stop. We must return to a normal life with our families, friends, and work, far away from the spotlight."

Flemming Rose stresses: "These drawings do not violate the laws on racism and blasphemy. The Counsel for the Kingdom confirmed that. Muslims, who are 3% of the Danish population, must be treated on an equal basis with the other groups in Denmark...Not to be able to use them in caricatures is tantamount to granting them special treatment, to marginalizing them, as if they were not an integral part of our community. The Muslims in this country enjoy rights that are considerably more respected in Danish society than in Muslim lands."

With all respect for Flemming Rose, his argument is very disappointing. Either he does not know, or is pretending not to know, that Muslims cannot be treated equally because they WILL NOT be treated equally. Therefore they must be expelled. By their nature they cannot be "an integral part" of Denmark. The proof? Flemming Rose is running for his life, while the Muslims are staying.

The MRC's Home Page

In my last post I spoke of the MRC (Republican Citizens Movement), a left-wing off-shoot of the Socialist Party, founded by Jean-Pierre Chevènement and Georges Sarre. At the home page of the MRC website (besides the photo of Evo Morales) is this interesting plug for a new book, Mémento du républicain (roughly translated, "Memento of the Republican Way"). It shows the icon of the French Republic, in red, walking over the ruins of capitalism - airplanes, hamburgers (McDonald's of course), trash cans, CD's, automobiles, and other debris.

Question: Do socialists drive, empty their trash, listen to music, fly, use computers, etc...? If not, with what will the socialists replace these free-market evils, these emblems of capitalist corruption?

Still, I rather like this picture, I think because there is a grain of truth in it. What's missing is the solution to the problem of excessive materialism.

Jean-Pierre Chevènement by Bruno Mégret

Many politicians are responsible for the Islamization of France - Giscard, Mitterand, Chirac, etc... The name of Jean-Pierre Chevènement is not well known outside of France. He was interior minister in the socialist government of Lionel Jospin from June 1997 to August 2000. Before that he held numerous ministerial positions in the Defense and Education Ministries. He is pictured above in front of the French flag. After serving under Jospin, he branched out on his own and co-founded another left-wing party called the MRC (Republican Citizens Movement), which has its own website, the home page of which features a large photo of MRC First Secretary Georges Sarre greeting Evo Morales, the socialist President of Bolivia, said to be the first indigenous head of state of Bolivia since the Spanish conquest.

The second photo above is that of Bruno Mégret, also unknown outside of France. A conservative politician, in the mold of traditionalists, he joined the Front National in 1985, with the hope of removing the stigma of extremism from the party of Le Pen, and transforming it into a credible political force. Not satisfied with the results, he broke with Le Pen in 1998, and the next year founded his own party, the MNR (National Republican Movement). Recently, he has expressed interest in a coalition of patriots that would re-unite him with Jean-Marie Le Pen.

In September 2000, Bruno Mégret wrote a scathing indictment of the former Interior Minister, Jean-Pierre Chevènement. The full text is at his website.

1) Chevènement means regularization of illegals. The decree signed by the ex-minister of the interior in 1997, allowed 100,000 illegal immigrants to obtain resident status. The majority (71%) were of African origin...

2) Chevènement means forced integration of the national police. Recruiting...is based on ethnic criteria, on the pretext of creating a police department that "faithfully reflects the society".

3) Chevènement means the Islamization of France. By officially recognizing a "French Islam", by forcing local communities to finance the construction of mosques, by ordering a police chief to negotiate with a foreign imam during trouble in the ghetto of Lille, Chevènement has actively worked for the Islamization of France, in other words, colonization, balkanization, "third-worldification" of our country. No! Islam is not assimilable into French society or into European civilization!

4) Chevènement means mockery of the French State. During his term, a police chief was assassinated, another imprisoned...and a policeman was put in jail for "voluntary homicide", when in fact he was on a mission, and probably justifiably defending himself....The role of a minister is not to give lessons in constitutional law, but to support his men, so that law and order can be restored to all, everywhere!...

5) Chevènement means the assassination of the Republic. By advocating the right to vote for immigrants, like all left-wingers and some false right-wingers, the former interior minister mocks the principles of the Republic. (Article 3 of the Constitution of the French Republic: "All French nationals of age, and of both sexes, who benefit from civil and political rights, may vote.")

6) Chevènement means more and more crime. The ex-minister dared to say...: "The official statistics show that crime is completely contained." It's utter nonsense!...There are, in reality, not 3.5 million crimes committed in France each year (which is already a huge figure), but 16.5 million, or 48,000 per day and 1 every 2 seconds...Just in the year 1999 there were 72,000 "incidents" in our schools (20,000 of them serious - assaults, theft, strip-searches, sexual agressions...), almost 30,000 crimes of "urban violence" (versus 16,500 in 1997), 25,000 rapes (only 7,828 were put in the books, and 1,636 resulted in a conviction)...

7) Chevènement means more and more immigration. In his three years as minister, Chevènement allowed in more than a half-million additional immigrants (230,000 per year, of whom 100,000 were illegal), or ten times the population of Belfort!...This policy of of invasion was not just tolerated by Chevènement, he openly supported and advocated it. "More than 79 million foreigners will be admitted into the European Union by the year 2050...It must be acknowledged and made public, that Europe will become a region of racial mixture", said the Official Report of the French Government to the European Council of Justice, Internal Affairs of Marseilles, July 28-29, 2000.

No, immigration is not "good fortune for France". It is reverse colonization.

Building Mosques - A Growth Industry

Mosques are being built every day in France. An Islamic website devoted to listing the addresses of all the mosques in France, names at least 709 mosques and/or prayer rooms throughout continental France, including Corsica. Retaining the French names of the regions, it breaks down thus:

Alsace - 15 mosques
Aquitaine - 10
Auvergne - 15
Basse-Normandie - 7
Bourgogne - 10
Bretagne - 8
Centre - 20
Champagne-Ardennes - 24
Corse - 1
Haute-Normandie - 20
Ile-de-France (minus Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis) - 231
Paris - 75
Seine-Saint-Denis - 89
Languedoc-Rousillon - 12
Limousin - 3
Lorraine - 28
Nord-Pas-de-Calais - 45
Pays-de-la-Loire - 17
Picardie - 25
Poitou-Charentes - 10
Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur - 20
Rhône-Alpes - 24

The total of 709 mosques is certainly tentative as new ones are cropping up all the time. The following comments are from Via-Resistancia, a Google group, regarding the vigorous collaboration of the socialists in the building of these mosques:

As in Belfort where Jean-Pierre Chevènement (the city's mayor) wants to build a giant mosque, the mayor of Nantes, Jean-Marc Ayrault, is backing the construction of a "cathedral mosque", a project initiated by the Muslim Cultural Association of Nantes, a "cultural" association that runs an especially active pro-Palestinian lobby and that frequently calls for the boycott of Israeli products.

The article then goes on to list several left-wing or Muslim organizations that have close connections to the Socialist Party and says:

All these associations are very generously financed by the socialist mayor of Nantes, the former seat of the Dukes of Brittany. These Dukes, who Christianized this Celtic land, are surely turning over in their graves.

The construction of a giant mosque, called a "cathedral", is the icing on the cake for this collaboration with the Muslim occupier. And so, Nantes is added to the long list of French cities that will soon be dominated by minarets: Strasburg, Saint-Etienne, Marseille (with Gaudin's hyperactive collaboration), La Roche-sur-Yon (with no opposition from Philippe de Villiers).

In another e-mail from Via-Resistancia we are informed that:

...the Muslims of Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) are organizing what they have called a "mosque-a-thon" for Friday, with the aim of raising the funds for their future mosque. The first stone is scheduled to be laid that very day...

A building permit was issued in February by the communist mayor Bernard Birsinger, after an emphyteutic lease was granted in October 2004. (Please see this article from Galliawatch, on the meaning of an emphyteutic lease.)

Construction costs are in the vicinity of 2 million euros, according to Youssef Zaoui, President of the Association of Muslims of Bobigny...

The first real mosque in Seine-Saint-Denis, a largely Muslim department, was inaugurated in March 2005, in Bondy. Several projects are on the boards to replace old sites, or sites that are too small or squalid...

The article points out that mosques are being built in Tremblay-en-France, in Blanc-Mesnil, and one is projected in Pré-Saint-Gervais. There are other plans for mosques in Bagnolet, Clichy-Montfermeil, Montreuil, Stains and Saint-Denis.

Not to be outdone by the French, the Brits have come up with a plan for a mega-mosque to be built for the 2012 Olympic Games. France-Echos reports:

England: The biggest mosque of all time and place will be erected in London - 70,000 seats! Compare that with Saint Peter's Square that holds 60,000 faithful. Everything about it is gigantic:

- the price? 150 million euros
- the size? 50,00 square meters
- annexes? A hotel, a library...
- the occasion? The Olympic Games
- the architect? Ali Mangera, an Indian Muslim
- the name? "Islamic Garden"
- the financing? Not clear. Only the entrepreneur is known: an Indian Islamic organization called "Tablighi Jamaat" that considers itself non-political and above all "humanitarian"...

They say that, among other backers, the British Treasury, "certain foreign investors", and especially the European Union, are all ready to bow down in the dust before the Muslims, at the first opportunity.

The mosque will be ready in 2012, in time for the Olympic Games. But, like the Eiffel Tower...it will not be dismanteled after the Games, naturally. We are not certain where the weapons will be hidden...the EU is pathetic!

The opening image is from Muslimia.

Update: March 10, 2007 - The London mega-mosque has been shelved for now.

The Lion of Belfort

The plans to build a huge mosque in Belfort prompted me to do some research on the history of this city in the former province of Franche-Comté. The city is the equivalent of county seat in the tiny department of Territoire de Belfort, nestled in eastern France between the departments of Haute-Saône and Haut-Rhin. The population of the Territoire de Belfort is 134,097. Here are excerpts from a French history website called Herodote (subscription required):

The incompetence of Emperor Napoleon III set off a war between France and Prussia in 1870.

Because their country was invaded by a coalition of German armies with Prussia at the center, the French were forced to sign an armistice on January 28, 1871.

But to the south of Alsace, the fortified city of Belfort continued to resist the invader.

Colonel Pierre Marie Denfert-Rochereau, governor of the city, refused to give up his arms without an official order from Adolphe Thiers, head of the National Defense.

The governor finally surrendered on February 18, 1871, after a siege of 103 days.

Belfort saved the honor of the French army that had suffered disgrace from the pitiful defeat of MacMahon and Napoléon III at Sedan, and from the dishonorable surrender of Bazaine, at Metz.

In Frankfort, during the negotiations for a definitive peace treaty, Thiers requested that the city and its territory remain French, unlike the rest of Alsace, but in exchange, he would yield to the victor another piece of Lorraine.

By virtue of its glorious resistance, the Belfort Territory acquired the status of department.

In 1879, Auguste Bartholdi sculpted a wounded roaring lion into the red clay of the cliff, to honor the resistance of Belfort and its governor (the lion turns its back on Germany in order to avoid any provocation).

The "Lion of Belfort" measures 22 meters long, 11 meters high. It has become the symbol of the city.

A bronze replica, two-thirds smaller, was erected in Paris at Place de l'Enfer, re-baptized Place Denfert-Rochereau for the occasion.

When he became deputy from Haut-Rhin, then from Charente, Colonel Pierre Denfert-Rochereau never ceased to denounce the surrender of Alsace-Lorraine decreed by the May 10,1871 Treaty of Frankfort.

Another website devoted to Belfort provides the image of the Lion, and informs us that the city first appears in the historical record in 1226. A city developed in the shadow of the fortified castle built on an inaccessible rock. It became Austrian and was a stronghold of the Hapsburgs until Charles the Bold reconquered it briefly from 1469 to 1474. The city's prosperity came to an end with the Thirty-Years War. It was designated a French city in 1648 by the Treaty of Westphalia. A major innovator of the 17th century, Sébastien Le Prestre, Marshal of Vauban (1633-1707) spent twenty years fortifying the city and its citadel, making it impregnable. In 1658, Louis XIV offered the city to Cardinal Mazarin who bequeathed it to his niece Hortense Mancini. Her descendants, the Grimaldis, Princes of Monaco, ruled over the "beautiful fort" until the French Revolution.

Now, according to France-Echos:

Arnaud de Sigalas, who occupies the Bazoches estate where Vauban lived, is actively participating in the on-going debate at Belfort: "My family and I learned with horror about the plans to build an enormous edifice, a mosque that holds 1700 people...Belfort cannot approve such a plan on this site without a backlash of recriminations by millions of Frenchmen"...

The France-Echos contributor continues:

For several weeks, hundreds of demonstrators have been parading regularly in the city to protest this mosque. The reputation of Belfort rests on its fortifications (including the castle, where the Lion was sculpted). The Muslims are trying with all their might to build a giant mosque on these fortifications. It's all very symbolic...They have the support of the left-wing elected officials; the right-wing is totally opposed. At least here, the division is clear-cut. All local resistants should demonstrate their opposition to the leftist-Islamist collaborators.

The photos of the city (except for the Lion) are from Interfrance. The top photo is the castle and Vauban's fortifications; the second is the Perello Grocery, one of the oldest in France, dating from 1825; the third is the François Mitterand Promenade and the Savoureuse River.

If At First You Don't Succeed...

About thirty-two years separate these photos. The top photo shows Valéry Giscard d'Estaing at the time of his election in 1974. A few days ago, Vox Galliae reminded its readers of what that election meant for France:

It was the beginning of a massive immigration of peoples, of demographic decline (with 250,000 abortions each year), widespread unemployment, the fierce push for Europeanism at the expense of the uniqueness of our nation, political scandals, the loss of self-confidence, the explosion of the divorce rate, the wiping out of the family...

Here are two comments from Vox Galliae readers:

- The math is easy: 250,000 children not born each year for 31 years, that adds up to 8 million ethnic Frenchmen who did not come into this world, so an equal number of immigrants had to be brought in!

******************

- Yes, indeed, it's about replacing one population with another. Isn't that a form of colonization?

The second photo is more current and comes from an article, part of which was posted by Dag at No Dhimmitude, about Giscard's desire to hold a new referendum on the European Constitution in the hope that the French people will see the light and vote "oui". I've also included Dag's own comment on the article.

The architect of the EU constitution and former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing has called for the charter to be ratified in France through a new referendum or a parliamentary vote.

Mr Giscard d'Estaing was the chairman of the European Convention, a body of EU politicians which presented the draft EU constitution in 2003, and has since been lobbying for his text despite "no" votes on the charter in France and the Netherlands last year.

The French politician again strongly defended the constitution in an interview with the FT on Tuesday (23 May).

"It is not France that has said no. It is 55 percent of the French people - 45 percent of the French people said yes," he said.

"I wish that we will have a new chance, a second chance, for the constitutional project."

Mr Giscard d'Estaing indicated that the treaty could be put to French voters in a second referendum, or be ratified by the French parliament.

"People have the right to change their opinion. The people might consider they made a mistake," he said on a possible new referendum.

On the parliamentary option, he stated "If we had chosen to have a parliamentary vote last year the constitution would have been easily adopted. It is the method that has provoked the rejection..."

The veteran French politician expressed optimism that his text will be adopted unchanged in the whole of the EU – except Britain.

"There are 16 out of 25 countries that have ratified the European constitution. That's to say there's a qualified majority. There is an agreed text. The concern now is the modalities of adopting it," he said.

But he added "The British will not approve the constitutional treaty. We know it."

"I think that for Great Britain we need to find a special arrangement resembling that which applied to the euro."

Other French politicians have rejected the idea of re-submitting the treaty to citizens directly.

Interior minister and presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy said in February "I will not be the one who will tell the French that they have misunderstood the question."

Mr Sarkozy has suggested instead that a slimmed version of the constitution could be adopted by the French parliament...


Here are Dag's closing comments:

If people vote for a dictatorship, is it a legitimate state? What if 45 percent vote for a dictatorship? What if parliament passes a law instating a dictatorship? How far are the French willing to go before they rise up and hang the elites? Will they? Or will they simply stop having children to live with the mess till the Muslims take over, ruin the world they live in, and die of starvation because there's no one left to supply them with the material goods they require to survive? Should we care?

Le Pen Rising in the Polls

I've lifted this article lock, stock and barrel from the Telegraph, where I am registered. I'm not sure that non-registered readers would have access to it.

Is this good news or bad? Does it mean that the patriots have a shot next May, or that a deceitful and unreliable candidate (Le Pen) will wipe out the chances for Philippe de Villiers? From my vantage point, I cannot say. De Villiers appears to have so much more integrity than Le Pen, but Jean-Marie still has the popularity.


Le Pen and French far Right achieve record popularity
Kim Willsher in Paris
(Filed: 21/05/2006)

As the French government tears itself apart amid a trumped-up corruption scandal, and the socialist opposition fails to capitalise on the chaos, Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-Right National Front (FN), has gained record levels of support - without saying a word in public.

According to a survey in the news magazine Le Point last week, 22 per cent of the French population has a "favourable opinion" of Mr Le Pen - up five per cent from the previous month.

The rating is far higher than the 16 per cent popularity which Mr Le Pen scored in polls four years ago, just before the presidential elections in which he shocked France by beating the socialist prime minister, Lionel Jospin, in the first round. He lost to Jacques Chirac in the second round and political commentators insisted his success was a blip that would never happen again.

"His ideas have never been so popular," said his daughter and likely successor, Marine. She is "very, very optimistic" about her father's chances in next year's presidential election. "He will be in the second round, the only question is who he will be against," Miss Le Pen said.

"It's a case of people realising that reality is reflecting what we have been saying for the past 30 years. It is also because the political system is caving in on itself."

The swing to the extreme Right has been attributed to a series of events, during a period of economic gloom, that have crippled the government: last autumn's rioting in the suburbs; student violence over a proposed employment law; and now the Clearstream dirty tricks scandal.

Polls have shown the FN relentlessly on the rise since last November's violence in the immigrant ghettos on the outskirts of France's biggest cities. In October, eight per cent of French people said they would vote for Mr Le Pen's party.

By December that had risen to 11 per cent, and by February it was 12 per cent. In March, at the height of the student riots, would-be FN voters increased to 13 per cent and in April they were 14 per cent.

Before 2002, the highest point for the FN, which was created in 1972, was in the mid-1990s, when the party took over six mayoral posts, capitalising on increasing concerns over immigration.

Supporters believe that Mr Le Pen's silence over the Clearstream scandal has helped to distinguish him from the tarnished crowd.

Most critics of the French government have had a field day over the scandal, which has pitted President Chirac and the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, against Nicolas Sarkozy, the foreign minister - all members of the same right-of-centre party.

But Mr Le Pen has made a point of keeping out of the political mudslinging, telling friends that Clearstream is nothing more than a "sordid masquerade".

"There's no reason for me to attack these people with my little hammer when they're smashing each other up with a road drill," he said privately, according to Le Figaro newspaper.

Both Mr Sarkozy and Mr Chirac have attempted to win over FN supporters, offering increasingly hardline immigration policies.

But Miss Le Pen dismissed Mr Sarkozy's tough new immigration bill, which was passed by the lower house of parliament last week, and his declaration that foreigners in France could either "like it or leave".

She said: "Either he has changed and is convinced by our ideas, in which case why insult us, or he is obsessed with getting into power no matter what. "Personally I believe it is the latter." Pollsters who have been studying voting intentions - separate from popularity ratings - suggest it would be unwise to write off the FN leader in next year's vote.

In April - before the Clearstream scandal - a survey by the Sofres polling company predicted that Mr Le Pen could finish third in the first round of voting for the presidency.

It put him behind Mr Sarkozy and the Socialist contender Ségolène Royal, but ahead of Mr de Villepin.

Unhealthy Diplomacy

The imposing figure to the left is Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French Foreign Minister. His background is in medicine and bio-chemistry, and he has held various ministerial positions in the Ministry of Health. More recently, as Foreign Minister, he has opposed a law that would make denial of the Armenian genocide a crime.

I have stated before that I do not believe in illegal opinions. You cannot forbid someone to say something, even if the thing said is abhorrent. Furthermore, the hypocrisy is too blatant - Europe closes its eyes to dhimmitude, to crimes committed by immigrants, to the on-going genocide in places like Darfour, to the true nature of Islam, to the true nature of communism, etc... but then, they suddenly decide to make holocaust denial a crime, all the while pandering to the present-day Jew-haters and Armenian-haters. Apologies will never work - they debase the memory of the dead. Likewise, the criminalization of an abhorrent point of view will never work either. I would go so far to say that Turkey would be a danger to Europe even if it DID recognize its past.

Abhorrent points of view would not be so common in a healthy society, proud of its heritage and operating from a position of strength. The Turks, like the Arabs, have perceived the glaring weaknesses in the West and are taking advantage. The real fault lies with the Western nations.

Notwithstanding all that, Douste-Blazy's policy is still a good example of dhimmitude. The article is from the Occidentalis Blog. The photo is from the Assemblée Nationale.

Here is the speech given by our Foreign Minister(1) last Thursday in the National Assembly, with regard to a law recognizing the Armenian genocide:

"We cannot accept this bill. The text that has been submitted to you, if adopted, would be considered, whether you like it or not, as an unfriendly gesture by the vast majority of the Turkish people. That could not fail to have serious political consequences, and to weaken our influence not only in Turkey itself, but also in the entire region".

With these words, the head of French diplomacy rejected the bill proposed by the socialists forbidding the denial of the 1915 Armenian genocide. A diplomacy that seeks to maintain friendship with a country that massacred, raped, deported and pillaged nearly a million and a half Armenians. A pre-planned genocide, as this telegram from Turkish Interior Minister Talaat Pacha shows:

"The government has decided to destroy all the Armenians residing in Turkey. It is necessary to put an end to their existence, no matter how criminal may be the measures taken. Their age and their sex must not be taken into consideration. The pangs of conscience have no place here."

A genocide that has never been admitted and that opens the way to others to come...If, alas, that should happen, the boot-licking diplomats would have their share of the responsability.

(1) The text says "Interior Minister". I presume that is an error, unless Sarkozy delivered Douste-Blazy's speech.

Saved By The Sun - and Undershorts!

This is the latest entry at the Claude Reichman website:

Despite frightful weather, the May 20, 2006 demonstration in Paris was an unquestionable success. Saturday morning, twisters of wind and rain pounded the Parisian basin, casting doubt on the advisability of holding the event, but by early afternoon, the weather started to improve, and a bright sun finally shone just as the "Blues" were gathering in front of the Panthéon. In all, more than a thousand people responded to the call of the fifth Parisian demonstration of the Blue Revolution, a remarkable number, considering the circumstances.

The participants unanimously approved of the quality of the speeches. The speakers for the Blue Revolution were exceptional for their quality and their verve. One after the other, Olivier Pichon, Gérard Pince, Jean-Christophe Mounicq and Georges Clément denounced the enslavement of the French people by an unjust and tyrannical State. "Schoelcher, come back, they've gone mad", said one of the signs waved in front of the Panthéon, where the author of the law that abolished slavery in our colonies lies buried. "Down with slavery", said another sign.

The participants warmly applauded all the speeches calling for the toppling of the dishonest political system of spoliation that the French are being forced to endure. At the end of the demonstration, Claude Reichman waved a pair of undershorts (symbol of slavery) and said these words: "Like the standard of Joan of Arc, these shorts signify suffering. Tomorrow, they will signify honor, when the Blue Revolution triumphs!"

The French word for undershorts is "caleçon". I have no idea when it became designated as a symbol of slavery, though I would imagine early on.

Ten Years Ago - Tibéhirine

A few days ago, GalliaWatch published two articles on Charles de Foucauld, the Trappist monk, turned priest, who was assassinated in 1916 in Algeria. His murder seems to have set a precedent, since ten years ago today, seven Trappists were also murdered - beheaded - in Algeria. This article from Le Monde relates the commemoration.

On May 21, 1996, seven Trappist monks from the monastery of Tibéhirine, south of Algiers, who had been kidnapped during the night of March 26 - 27, while war between armed Islamists and security forces was raging, were assassinated. A few days later, on May 30, their heads were discovered near Médéa (90 kilometers south of Algiers), a few miles from from the monastery of Notre-Dame de l'Atlas, where they lived. The bodies have never been found.

Ten years after their death, light has still not been shed on the identity of the kidnappers, or on the circumstances of the kidnapping and the murders. The Paris Tribunal opened a hearing on February 10, 2004 against X, following a deposition by the family of Christophe Lebreton, one of the monks assassinated, and by Armand Veilleux, former prosecutor for the Cistercian Order.

The families of the seven monks are "entitled to the truth", repeated Father Veilleux in March. At the same time, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, counselor Patrick Baudouin, denounced the "abnormal opaqueness" and the "excessive slowness" of the investigation led by Judge Jean-Louis Bruguière.

Responsability for the kidnapping of the monks, aged 45 to 82, who cultivated the lands of the Tibéhirine monastery, located in the heart of fundamentalist territory, had been claimed by the GIA (Armed Islamic Group), who threatened to kill them unless militants, including former GIA chief Abdelhak Layada, imprisoned in Algeria, were released. Accusing the French authorities of refusing to negotiate, the GIA, then led by Djamel Zitouni, announced that the seven monks had been beheaded on May 21.

According to a member of the GIA, arrested in 2001, the bodies of the victims, which have never been found, are in Bougara, on the cultivated plain of Mitidja, near Algiers, where they were held and executed after the Algerian authorities refused to comply with the demand for the release of the prisoners. However, this hypothesis that places full responsability for the crime on the GIA was later discredited when several former Algerian secret service agents affirmed that the security forces were implicated in the affair. They had, presumably, manipulated the GIA in order to force France to take sides in the Algerian civil war.

For the 10th anniversary of their death, a Mass will be celebrated on Sunday at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris by Monsignor André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris. One of the seven monks, Christian de Chergé, prior of the monastery, was originally from Paris.

In Algiers, a Mass was celebrated on Friday at the Basilica of Notre-Dame d'Afrique, during a homage both to the seven monks and to Cardinal Léon-Etienne Duval, former Archbishop of Algiers, who became famous for his stand against torture during the Algerian War (1954-1962) and who died of illness on May 30, 1996, at age 92. On Sunday, only the Archbishop of Algiers, Monsignor Henri Tessier, and a few priests are to pray, in the strictest privacy, as they do every year, by the tombs of the victims, brothers Paul, Bruno, Célestin, Michel, Christophe, Christian and Luc, in the little cemetery of the Tibéhirine monastery.

The Archbishop of Algiers had intended to organize, for the first time, a ceremony at the monastery this May 21, in the presence of the monks' families and members of the Cistercian Order, but it was canceled when the authorities ordered escorts to take them to the monastery. "In the eyes of the people, these escorts will identify us as government or military, giving us an appearance that is contrary to the friendship, trust and peace that we wish to experience through this event", explained the Trappist Order, at the end of March, when they canceled the ceremony.

The photo is from Nouvel Obs.

Questioning de Villiers' Integrity

Galliawatch has devoted much time to Philippe de Villiers, his traditionalist philosophy, his optimism, his desire to distance himself from the Front National, and his insistance that he has broken away from the dysfunctional establishment politics in the hope of restoring the true values of French civilization. However, all along, there have been comments here and there at the French message boards, that express suspicion and doubt as to de Villiers' sincerity. In recent days, there have been several articles expressing anger and disappointment, as well as the suggestion that, despite everything he has said, de Villiers may well form an alliance with Le Pen. One issue at the center of the debate is the building of a mosque in la Roche-sur-Yon, a town in Vendée, de Villiers' department. Vox Galliae says this:

A mosque will soon see the light of day in the socialist city of la Roche-sur-Yon. Go see the design of the project at the website devoted to the construction. Its minaret will proudly rise 14 meters high...

The weekly news magazine Le Point stated last week: If the height of the minaret is 14 meters, this must be taken relatively. "It is much smaller than the near-by buildings; it could not possibly constitute an 'eyesore' in the neighborhood", indicated the mayor's office. (Le Point 04/05/06 - No.1755)

The author of this blog went to the site: his photos show perfectly that the mayor's office lied!

Note: the photos mentioned above apparently are in a "Daily Motion" video. I could not get the video to work for me. But the height of the minaret is immaterial. The mosque should not be there at all.

The fact that de Villiers has not (as far as is known) protested the mosque is the element of interest.

Another complaint comes from Via-Resistancia, a Google group. It concerns the continued presence of anti-Semitic elements in the MPF, de Villiers' party:

And Philippe de Villiers abruptly proclaims: "Together with the Jews, we will defend civilization against barbarity."

Well and good, let him begin by kicking out of the MPF the entire backroom with its rancid odor of anti-Semitism, from certain so-called "traditionalist" Catholics to the pathetic Paul-Marie Couteaux, the European deputy from Paris, who will soon feel vindicated. For the EU today proposes to furnish nuclear sites to Iran, just a few years after this eminent member of the MPF to the Parliament of Strasburg advocated "giving the Arab countries atomic weapons" on the grounds that "Israel has them"...

In the provinces too, we have discerned in many organizations that a certain number of old-time bigwigs of the MPF are still holding forth with speeches that feature, without the slightest ambiguity, an anti-Semitic theme. When the house has been cleaned up, then and only then will the remarks of Philippe de Villiers be credible.

His credibility was already damaged earlier this week when groups of resistants from Vendée revealed that, besides the active collaboration of the socialist mayor of Roche-sur-Yon in the building of an imposing mosque in France's premier Catholic department, it was noteworthy that the deputy from Vendée who touts himself as the great "adversary of Islam" did nothing to oppose the initiative...

Le Salon Beige notes that Pierre Audier, vice-president of the MPF in the department of the Gard, is preparing to leave Philippe de Villiers for the Front National.

Finally, Pierre Baudouin, writing in Les 4 Vérités informs us that an alliance with le Pen is possible:

People are talking more and more lately of a union of all the political parties to the right of the UMP for the 2007 presidential election.

As everyone knows, an offer has been made by Jean-Marie Le Pen primarily to Philippe de Villiers, and secondarily to Bruno Mégret.

At first, this offer was probably a tactical move: by offering a merger, and knowing that he was the only one to the right of Nicolas Sarkozy with any chance of making it to the second round of voting, Jean-Marie Le Pen played the role of reconciler, placing on de Villiers' shoulders the responsability of any failure.

And, in fact, de Villiers at first declined. Officially for ideological and geo-political reasons (Le Pen's position on Iran's atomic bomb and his indulgence for Islam). However, his voters and his staff read things differently.

De Villiers now seems to be considering Le Pen's offer with more interest. Especially since he is running the risk of being completely ignored whenever he claims to be more "anti-immigrationist" than Le Pen, given that JMLP has a thirty-year head start on this topic. Recent polls leave no doubt: de Villiers can certainly contribute to the "un-demonizing" of the Front National; but he cannot, for the moment, seize the title of heir.

In short, the notion of a "union of patriots" is making headway. And in terms of the next election, it is not as absurd as it might seem at first. Philippe de Villiers, in particular, has much to gain from it.

Some reminders: Claude Reichman has stated that the various patriot parties have yet to sit down at the table and talk. Philippe de Villiers will have a lot of damage control to deal with, considering his criticisms of Islam as compared to Le Pen's apparent acceptance of the Islamization of France. Both men have an anti-Semitic problem to resolve, but de Villiers has been much more open to the Jewish community.

A "Holocost" of One's Own

A rap group calling itself "Holocost", consisting of two performers named Shone and KER from Burkina Faso and Cambodia, have aroused both criticism and sympathy in France. There is a "competiton" between Jews and other groups, especially blacks, for the prize in who has suffered most. As far as I know, no prize is being offered to the worst behaved or least adaptable. The article, originally in English, is from Ynetnews, the album cover came from this website.

PARIS - A French rap duo calling themselves “Holocost” caused a stir in Paris recently after they pasted promotional posters up around the city announcing the release of their new album. The black posters with the word “Holocost” printed in yellow and an image of an automatic weapon were seen throughout the French city and its suburbs.

The rap album, called “L’Argent de la Brinks,” was produced by the record label Ghetto Fabulous, which represents independent artists. The two artists behind Holocost are Shone, an immigrant to France from Burkina Faso, and KER, of Cambodian origin. Both the rappers are from Clichy/Montfermeil outside Paris, near the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois where the race riots began last autumn.

On their website, the two explain why they chose the provocative name. “When we created ‘Holocost’…we wanted to find a name that makes you ask, why are they called that? There is a certain provocation, but it is to attract interest. ‘Holocost’ means to say the extermination of a race, agreed? We consider slavery as a manner of exterminating a race. We appropriated the term because we were also subjected to a holocaust, and there isn’t a separate expression for that.”

The lyrics of Holocost’s songs do not have an anti-Semitic bent, but rather express severe social criticism directed chiefly towards French society. In one of their songs they sings, “When the police come to my ghetto, it’s an Intifada, Palestine.”

The album, which was released in mid-April, was well received in the rap community according to reviews in online rap websites and blogs.

“The place of rap in suburban culture is extremely important,” Jewish French author Michael Saban, who writes about the subject, said Sunday. “It started as a copy of the American model and turned into the most significant voice today among residents of French suburbs. There is consistent attention to police, violence, prisons and immigrant’s problems.”

According to Saban, the name chosen by the rappers is not surprising. “It’s a phenomenon that has existed for a while in France, a sort of ‘contest’ of suffering and memory. You might say that they want their own holocaust, that it also be recognized.”

Saban noted that the suburban rap scene has also seen anti-Semitic songs in the past. “There was a rap song called ‘Screw the Jews’ a year or two ago. There was an investigation launched, but the clip was anonymous and no band took responsibility for it,” Saban said.

Prominent figures in the Jewish community in Paris said that they have no intention of protesting the musical group. “Why should we give them free publicity?” they explained.

Story first published in Yedioth Ahronoth

Philippe de Villiers Speaks to Israel Magazine

This interview appears at the new Occidentalis Blog. The interview was conducted by David Reinharc for Israel Magazine. The image is from Journaux.

DR - We are familiar with the way Le Pen tripped himself up on the Shoah and with his complacent attitude toward holocaust deniers. What is your position with regard to these "assassins of memory" and should those self-proclaimed historians be punished?

PDV - I am, as you know, the son of a man who earned the Resistance Medal, a man who was imprisoned and tortured by the Nazis at Lübeck. Holocaust denial is an abomination and of course I feel it should be punished. As for self-proclaimed historians, history will judge them better than any law...But you know, there is a unfortunate parallel between the current situation and the way in which the political elite, in 1938, were leaning: they were humming the litany of "appeasement". As for Le Pen's deviant remarks, coming from him, it is no surprise...

DR - And your position on Iran's nuclear program?

PDV - Today, it is a grave danger. If nothing is done, tomorrow it will be an historic calamity...A nuclear bomb in the hands of Islamists is the worst thing that can happen to the world in the coming years. But unfortunately, Iran is not the only menace; I'm also particularly concerned about the situation in Pakistan after Musharaf.

DR - In the war against the axis of evil formed by the Islamists of Hamas, of Iran, and the Syrians, and against the Islamo-progressive, anti-Christian-anti-Western, anti-American-anti-Semitic alliance, does Israel appear to you to be a natural ally?

PDV - While we must beware of embarking on some Messianic mission, we must still act pragmatically and attack the real dangers. Today the great international threat is the Islamist terrorism that runs rampant in Israeli buses and restaurants, but also in the great European capitals. In this perspective, an alliance of opponents of this new form of barbarism is a clear necessity. It must rise above differences; a few Arab heads of state are fighting effectively and honestly against Islamist fanaticism - they, too, are potential allies.

DR - You lead the movement against the entry of Turkey into the EU. Mein Kampf is a leading best-seller in Turkey, a Turkish movie based on Nazi propaganda is a huge success, and the old clichés from the Protocols of Zion are in circulation: how do you explain that the Arab-Muslim world has not been affected by the trauma of Auschwitz?

PDV - I don't think that one can say that the ensemble of the Arab-Muslim world has not been affected by the trauma of Auschwitz. Auschwitz and the Shoah were a world-wide calamity, but there exists, unfortunately, in Islamic culture an anti-Judaism inscribed in the foundations of Islam. If Christianity, in its historic evolution, has reached out to the Judaic world, it is unfortunately undeniable that the Islamic world has never sought to improve relations. This fact even more evident today as Islam undergoes a world-wide radicalization.

DR - In your opinion, is there a cause and effect connection between the rise of anti-Semitism and the presence of a large Muslim population?

PDV - No question that Ilan Halimi was killed because he was Jewish. Youssef Fofana and his gang probably tortured and killed him out of religious fanaticism. Today, France is witnessing the development of a new Islamist anti-Semitism among its immigrant populations. This is a result of the transposition into the suburban ghettoes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also of an increasing fanaticism on the part of many young Muslims. Today, in certain neighborhoods, Bin Laden is a hero, while schools have difficulty teaching about the Shoah.

DR - Do you distinguish between the anti-Semitism of the extreme neo-Pétainist right and that which emerges from Islamo-progressive thinking?

PDV - Both are terrifying, but I believe that the new anti-Semitism in the ghettoes is the immediate threat, while the extreme right-wing anti-Semitism exists in a few neo-Nazi groups on the road to extinction. In these ghettoes, there is a striking increase in the number of anti-Semitic attacks. It has become impossible for a Jew wearing a kippa to go out without running the risk of being insulted or attacked. My staff and I receive numerous testimonies from Jews who are tormented by this threat that hangs over their life and the life of their family.

DR - Could an ambitious political policy integrate the Muslim population into France?

PDV - I prefer the word "Frenchify" to "integrate". After all it is in the name of integration that tens of thousands of polygamous families are allowed to live in France today. To absorb the problem caused by Muslim immigration, we must be firm internally, and generous externally. In concrete terms that means that we cannot allow Sharia law to replace the laws of the Republic, we must ban forced marriages and polygamy, we must impose on the mosques a republican charter that mandates equality between men and women, the recognition of separation of Church and State, and the rejection of all foreign financing.

But, first and foremost, for all of that to take place, we must stop immigration. We must undertake an ambitious plan to develop these African countries that the immigrants come from. That's what I have done between my department (Vendée), and Benin, and the results are excellent. Such cooperation would allow us to stabilize the populations by stabilizing the best and brightest among them. This is the direct opposite of Nicolas Sarkozy's plan that would rob these poor countries of their most gifted members, while at the same time we are incapable of providing jobs for 5 million Frenchmen...

DR - Do you espouse the thesis of Samuel Huntington about the clash of civilizations between the West and the rest of the world, or can there be, in your opinion, in the heart of every civilization - and this involves Islam, of course - an internal fracture between fanatics and enlightened men?

PDV - My nature does not allow me to be Huntingtonian; there is, in the theory of the clash of civilizations, a determinism and a notion of fate that are frightening. I find the strength to fight and to brave the dangers in the hope that keeps me alive. The hope of seeing my country once again regain its pride and the hope of seeing it rid of the two gangrenes that are eroding it: multiculturalism that devours French civilization, and unbridled globalism. However, it would be criminal to deny the awful reality of the situation. We must fight against the Islamization of French society because it represents a danger. Yet, I feel certain that France will wake up, at any rate, I'm working towards that...

DR - In your opinion, is Europe on the path of dhimmitude?

PDV - There is indeed a danger threatening Europe. There is a kind of public offer by Sharia to purchase the European way of life. Even though it is silent, this takeover is no less hostile...Dhimmitude is already a reality in some corners of Europe. But political will can prevent it. Just as the French Prime Minister invokes economic patriotism to protect French businesses from foreign public offers, so he ought to invoke popular patriotism to ward off this agression against our identity. But to do that, courage is needed, and courage has not been the line of conduct of our government for the past 30 years. I feel very lonely on this road of courage...

DR - Will France still exist in 50 or 100 years?

PDV - If we go on like this, France will no longer exist as it has existed for centuries. It will be at once a little province of the European Super-State and a small piece of Dar-al-Islam, that is, land of Islam.

Fortunately, I believe in the rising up of the French people. By voting to reject the European constitution, they demonstrated that they wanted neither a Europe that destroys individual nations, nor a Turkey in Europe. The political right that is in power did not listen to the people, and the people will remember this betrayal in 2007.

DR - In office, would you reverse the flow of immigrants?

PDV - As I have said before, we must have a zero immigration policy. Reports are showing that France no longer has the means to take in immigrants. Last year alone, 317,000 immigrants entered our territory. This attitude is as irreponsible as that of a head of houshold who decides to adopt a child while his own children are dying of hunger. We must put a stop to this criminal lie that persuades all the poor people of the planet that France is a paradise where they will live happy and rich. Instead of a paradise, the immigrants are finding a social and economic hell. We must patrol our borders, put an end to family reunification and turn off the spigot. Immigration costs French taxpayers 36 billion euros a year. This is not generosity, it's a scandal.

DR - How do you interpret this "Villierization" of an ever increasing segment of the Jewish community?

PDV - I'm happy to see that many in France's Jewish community are joining me in my fight against the scourge of Islamization. My relations with the Jewish community have always been friendly. The Jews of France are the first ones affected by this new state of affairs, and they know that they can count on my determination to defend them. Together we will defend civilization against barbarity.

Turkey Stakes Its Claim

From the new Occidentalis-Blog comes this report from a contributor named Renaud, who visited the official website of Turkish tourism and found this image. The caption reads: "Turkey - the most beautiful country in Europe". Renaud then contacted the office and had this exchange. The replies of Turkish Tourism are in italics:

Renaud - I am shocked to find at your website, infosturquie.com, that you describe Turkey as the most beautiful country in Europe. Be advised that Turkey is not a European country - an immense part of its territory is outside of Europe. Modern Turkey corresponds to what has been called ASIA minor since antiquity. Ataturk moved the capital from Constantinople to Ankara, a medieval city. Turks and their ancestors have always fought against the Europeans (Austrians, Italians, Greeks, Bulgarians...)

Turkey will never be European, especially since it continues to deny the Armenian genocide, to make a mockery of the rights of minorities living on its soil, to support the occupation of Cyprus, to violate Greek air space, etc...

Office of Tourism - First and foremost, thank you for conveying to us your thoughts about Turkey. We would also like to point out a few things.

Europe is not a continent, but an ideology. The "European" part of Turkey is larger than Luxemburg and more heavily populated than Luxemburg which is part of the EU. The Byzantine and Roman Empires spread beyond Europe, and the extent of the Byzantine Empire corresponded approximately to that of the Roman Empire which in turn corresponded to that of the Ottoman Empire. Europe, both in its literature and its culture has inherited much from the Roman and Byzantine Empires, as did the Ottoman Empire. Turkey, like the Ottoman Empire, did not fight the Europeans any more than the Europeans fought themselves: France fought England, England fought Ireland, Germany fought France and many other European countries...the examples go on and on. The current aim is to live in peace and to have good relations with our neighbors (one of the basic reasons for the EU). The Ottoman Empire and Turkey have always oriented their progress toward Europe and toward Westernization. If we look closely at the EU, we see that Malta is a member, a country designated by the UN as being part of Asia. Cyprus is located on the same meridian that crosses Ankara, so is it not as European as Turkey? Cyprus is not occupied; the island is divided into two Republics (like Ireland, for example). The spokesmen for the EU and Turkey have demonstrated Turkey's good will to unify the island, but the refusal comes from Greece. See the plan proposed by Kofi Annan in 2004, that was accepted in a referendum by Turkey and rejected by Greece. The EU acknowledges that it has been duped by Greece for more than 30 years. Turkey is a member and/or a founding member of all European institutions (the OECD, the Council of Europe...) Concerning the Armenian question, Turkey has opened its archives to historians, and has proposed the formation of a Turko-Armenian research committee...and Turkey is still waiting for a response to this proposition.

With the hope that these issues are now clarified, we remain sincerely yours,

The Office of Turkish Culture and Information
102, Avenue des Champs-Elysées
Paris 75008

Renaud - I see that the Office of Turkish Tourism in Paris is an organ of Pro-Turkish propaganda in the service of the Turkish government.

I detect at least two false statements in you message:

1) Europe is not an ideology, but a continent, separated from Asia on the East by the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea and the Caucasian Mountains. The straits of Bosphorus and Gibraltar separate Europe from Asia and Africa respectively. The continent is bounded on the West by the Atlantic ocean and on the North by the Arctic. The Mediterranean delimits the southern boundary of the continent. Iceland (situated geologically on the line separating Europe from America) and the islands of the Mediterranean, including Cyprus, are considered European.

2) Cyprus is occupied militarily by Turkey; the pseudo-state has never been recognized by any nation in the world. The comparison with Ireland is a propaganda maneuver.

Finally, the notion of Turkey belonging to Europe is far from being unanimous. A rapprochement with the Arab Muslim world is becoming more and more visible in Turkey. The Kurds living in Turkish lands are identifying more closely with the Kurds of Iran, Syria and Iraq, than with the Europeans.

I don't know if Renaud did a good job of trouncing the Turkish argument. He might have spoken more about Europe as a group of countries with a common culture, despite their internal wars. Even if Turkey did recognize the Armenian genocide, that would not qualify them for entry. Their culture and religion are alien to Europe. If they went back to being Greek Orthodox, i.e. the Byzantine Empire, then they might qualify, but even the Byzantines were, to some degree, alien to the West. At bottom, the idea that we are all one people is the fallacy pushing leaders of Europe and the United States into this initiative.

Claude Reichman - What the Right Must Do

This interview is available in PDF format at the Claude Reichman website. Here, surprisingly, he is critical of Philippe de Villiers, and seems to have some admiration for Le Pen. The interview is with a paper called Monde & Vie.

Reichman refers to another interview he had with Philippe de Villiers in February. Galliawatch published the translation a few weeks ago.

A reminder that the next meeting of the Blue Revolution will take place this Saturday, May 20, 2006 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Place du Panthéon in Paris, Métro stop Luxembourg, and at all the city halls of the provinces.

M&V - Claude Reichman, you've been an observer of political life for years and a fighter against the monopoly of Social Security (National Health Insurance). You're also host of a program on Radio Courtoisie, among the most listened to and authoritative broadcasts, what do you think of Jean-Marie Le Pen's proposal for a coalition of the patriots?

CR - In theory the idea is excellent. The idea of "patriot" allows us to go beyond political differences and to stick to the essential. But this proposal of JMLP occurs in an electoral context, that of the presidential election of 2007. It is not part of a greater movement forward. But such a movement is an indispensable antecedent to a union of the patriots. Otherwise, political calculations and private agendas will win the day and make the plan unattainable

M&V - Were the other leaders of the national right too quick to reply, one positive, the other negative?

CR - These replies also occur in the political context I have just spoken of. A coalition of patriots cannot be built on the simple proposal of one leader. We must first have a period of intense preparation, based on converging points of view and common actions. In this way, the common ground of popular support, without which the patriots cannot succeed, will be constructed.

M&V - Don't you think that, in any case, this coalition would win the votes of the majority and meet with genuine popular approval?

CR - Yes, but that's still wishful thinking. The difficulty in life, as in politics, is moving from thought to action. Experience shows that action does not happen before a phase of preparation, sometimes long, sometimes short, but always intense, has taken place. I'll give you an example. The main leaders of the real right, at the present time, are Jean-Marie Le Pen, Philippe de Villiers and Bruno Mégret, to whom you can add a few personalities from various associations and cultural organizations. These people have never come together in a meeting to express themselves and listen to the others. How can you expect them to act together in a coalition of patriots? They must make known beforehand the openness of their minds and their good will. So, I am, here and now, launching the idea of such a gathering. Monde & Vie would be the ideal organizer. After all, without supporting any particular party, your paper expresses rather faithfully what could be considered as "the opinion of the right". It is therefore in a good position to turn this editorial point of view into a reality by welcoming the principal protagonists of the future coalition of patriots.

M&V - Instead of plucking some feathers from the party closest to you, wouldn't it be bettter to get votes from the huge reservoir of disappointed UMP members, from those who abstain, and from all those liable to rally to a coalition that might lead to the gates of power?

CR - Of course. To attain power, the real right must garner about 50% of the votes. If it is too far from this percentage, there will be a coalition of the UMP, the UDF and the socialists. Such a coalition would be the majority, and the country would continue to be governed as it is now, that is to say, like the dog who died carried off by the stream.(1) I think therefore that Philippe de Villiers is committing an error when he tries to imitate the language of JMLP, just to get some votes. JMLP holds the copyright and it is futile to plagiarize him. If it is true, as I think it is since he spoke to me clearly about it, that Villiers has adopted a strategy of rupture with his former allies, he would do better to contribute something original to the common effort. Intelligent as he is, it should not be too difficult for him.

M&V - Where does the Blue Revolution fit into all of this?

CR - The Blue Revolution chose to espouse three essential points and only three: No public disorder, a reduction in the excess of taxes and fiscal burdens, and no incompetent politicians. When a great popular movement forms around these three themes, it will be up to the political parties that adhere to the movement to make the necessary institutional reforms. And France will be saved!

Interview by Paul Romain

(1) I'm not familiar with this saying.

The image of the eye is from France-Echos, but I could not locate the exact webpage.