The Last Christians In Turkey

Information on the photos can be found at the end of the post.

As everyone knows, the Pope has been visiting Turkey amidst all kinds of protests, expectations and warnings. As of this writing, Benedict XVI is favoring the entry of Turkey into the EU for reasons known only to him, although I believe I read somewhere that his counselors have told him it would bring about an "enrichment". That's rich, all right. But if we forget about the Pope on the grounds that the Vatican has been slipping for a long time into dhimmitude, what can we say about the Orthodox religious leaders in Turkey itself who WANT to see Europe expanded to include 80 million more Muslims? This abridgment of an article from Le Figaro describes the fears and concerns of the last Christians in Turkey: the Orthodox Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians:

If there is to be one last Christian he might be the one: François Yakan, patriarch of the tiny Assyrian-Chaldean community who works in the Beyoglu quarter of Istanbul in a building that was nearly destroyed by an Islamist suicide bomber attacking the Consulate of Great Britain in 2003. He is married to a Frenchwoman from Brittany: "Jesus and his apostles never imposed anything on the subject of marriage." Many of his flock fled to France, the "eldest daughter of the Church" during the '80's when violence broke out in southeast Anatolia between the Turkish army and the Kurdish rebels. "It is dangerous to be neutral in a war. Thousands of Christian Assyrians did not know where to find refuge, so they gathered in the city of Diyarbakir, then Istanbul and finally Western Europe. There are only 3 families left in Diyarbakir. It's all over for the Christians! A pity!" The number of Christian Assyrians in Turkey is down to 627 from 12,000 in 1980.

He is the only Turkish priest of this branch of the Orthodox churches and he evokes a glorious past, the missionary zeal along the Silk Road of the first Christians on their way to China. His patriarch, Emmanuel III Dely, lives barricaded in Bagdad. With Iraq ablaze and awash in blood, 3800 Christian Iraqis have come to istanbul to escape the death that stalks them on the streets of Basora, Mosul and Bagdad. Sunday morning they attend Mass in Aramaic, the language of Christ, in the Saint-Antoine church, the last Latin church built by the Franciscans before the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

The Assyrian-Chaldeans favor the entry of Turkey into the EU because the reforms necessary for admission would reenforce their rights. This point of view is shared by the Orthodox Greeks of Le Fener, one of the oldest institutions of the Golden Horn, considered by millions of faithful throughout the world as their Vatican. The patriarch Bartholomew I is in conflict with Benedict XVI on this issue. His representative, Guenadios, bishop of Sasima points out that "Cardinal Ratzinger had declared his hostility to the entry of Turkey into Europe. But today he no longer speaks as a representative of the congregation for the faith - he has become Benedict XVI and we will listen attentively to what he says. The patriarch is amenable to admission in the European family, provided Turkey is ready."

The battle is far from over because Muslim fundamentalism and especially Turkish nationalism are impediments to the required respect for religious minorities. Guenadios, bishop of Sasima, does not have a work permit. He is considered as a "tourist". And Ankara refuses to grant the patriarch his title, by virtue of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. Bartholomew I is requesting a special international church law to confront the problem of his dwindling flock, and to reopen, with the assistance of competent non-Turkish clergy, the theology school of Halki that was closed in 1971. This seminary on an island in the Sea of Marmara is an oasis of calm, covered with pine forests and Art Nouveau-style houses. The Orthodox Greeks are staking their survival on this charming site. In ten years, the older bishops will be gone and there won't be any local priests left.

According to one Orthodox intellectual: "relations are easier with the Islamists than with the nationalist groups. This is the case in Cappadocia where there are sacred Orthodox sites. There it is the Loups Gris (Grey Wolves) of the extreme-right who go after Christians, not the PJD (Party of Justice and Development).

Le Fener (a district of Istanbul) on the Bosphorus is protected by an old wall on the south bank. Its other walls are covered with barbed wire. A century ago the inhabitants of Le Fener were mainly Christian and spoke Armenian, Greek, Ladino (a Judeo-Spanish language), and Turkish. The area was the fief of Greek dignitaries, then of less wealthy Greeks, and today it is inhabited by wretched Anatolian peasants who came from villages of the interior.

The Greeks of Istanbul had been victims of ethnic and religious separation but had still managed to escape the population exchanges of 1924 when 1.3 million people were displaced between Greece and Turkey. They gave up, however after the pogrom of 1955 - Istanbul's Cristallnacht. In that year a hate-filled crowd tore into the Greek and Jewish ghettoes. The wealthy businessmen went into exile followed, in 1974, by everyone else, when the Cypriot crisis broke out. The "Rums" - Turks of Greek origin now number 3000.

Bartholomew I, patriarch of Constantinople, maintains complex relations marked by mistrust with his Latin Catholic rivals: "One must understand that we have come far. Things began to move with the Vatican II Council. When I arrived in Turkey in 1970, the Catholics and the Orthodox had just begun to speak to one another after centuries of anathema," recalls Monsignor Louis Pelâtre, the Vatican's representative in Istanbul.

In Turkey, the Pope's recent remarks on the violence of Islam caused irritation. The remarks were seen as an attack on the Eastern Christians who must face Islam on a daily basis. They revived the fear of being condemned to become a people without a land. The Assyrian-Chaldean François Yakan adds however: "The virulence of the Muslim reaction would seem to prove him (Benedict) right. And after all, the Pope is free to express his own opinion."

The Christian Armenians also have problems with the West, but unlike the Armenians of Europe they are not demanding Turkey recognize the genocide as a requirement for admission into the EU. Luiz Bakar, spokesman for the Armenian patriarch, states: "For us the most important problem - the recognition of our foundations - has been solved. Since 2002 we have been permitted to manage our real estate and to finance our schools." There are 80,000 Christian (Armenians) in Turkey. Over a million Armenians were massacred and deported in 1915. The coups of 1971 and 1980 triggered new departures. "A rebirth of democracy and well-being would induce the Turks of Armenian origin to stay home," says Luiz Bakar.

This year Luiz Bakar will celebrate Christmas and the epiphany on June 6, a short while after the Orthodox Easter. In the interim non-Muslim Turkish citizens will continue to demand that they not be treated as foreigners in their own country. The Pope's visit, for them, is a test that will measure the capacity for tolerance of a nation where being a minority has not always been easy.

I found this article both enlightening and confusing for several reasons. First, we get a glimpse into the thinking of the Orthodox Christians, but I'm not at all sure they all want Turkey in the EU. Only ignorance or naïveté could lead these Christians to believe that somehow Europe will protect their rights and make it safer for them to live in Turkey. Will there really BE a Europe, if Turkey enters? Won't the malfunctioning European systems collapse completely under the weight of 80 million more Muslims to add to the 17 or so million already in Europe?

Second, Le Figaro, in its detached objectivity, manages to arouse hope that things will really be better for these Christians when they are living in a European country. We hear their voices longing for democracy and well-being and rights. They regard Europe as a kind of El Dorado of rights - but look at Europe's dhimmitude, and the dhimmitude of the Catholic Church. Don't these Orthodox leaders realize that their faithful members, instead of being supported and strengthened, may be thrown to the wolves by the Europeans who have a history of indifference to the Eastern Christians?


The photos are by Dutchman Dick Osseman who has over 12,000 very beautiful photos at his website. The primary link to the site is here. You can click any of the active links to the various galleries for a wealth of stunning images of Turkey. Lovers of photography should take a look.

The top photo is from the "Istanbul" gallery and is a scene of the Kyz Kulesi lighthouse on the Bosphorus.

The middle photo is from the "Antakya Museum" gallery and shows a damaged mosaic of a Roman athlete.

The bottom photo show the splendid interior of the Fatih mosque in Istanbul. It is from the "December 2004" gallery.

Video Problems

Apologies for the non-existent video. All Youtube videos have disappeared from Blogger websites. I was not able to view it at the Youtube website either. Since Blogger and Youtube are both owned by Google, we just have to sit it out. Google experiments constantly with its new Blogger Beta format causing all kinds of breakdowns.

The Midas Of Elysée

If diamonds are a girl's best friend (they aren't exactly friendly, but they help in a pinch), gold is the favorite of kings. And while Jacques Chirac lacks the majesty, wisdom and visceral attachment to his country one would expect from a king - think of Frederick the Great or Louis XIV - he has a certain pomposity that leads people to describe him as "regal" or "monarchical". This video by Charles Henry, whose previous effort "The Party's Over" was featured at Galliawatch, paints a jarring portrait of the French leader going through the motions of presiding over a country on the brink. Images of "Douce France" are juxtaposed with the well-known scenes of mayhem. And through it all the strangely detached figure of the man who is, at least partly, responsible for it all.

Charles tends to be much harder on Chirac than on Bush. I would not want to have to choose which one was worse. I only know Bush had it in his power to reverse the tide, and he set his sails with the wind. From both men emanates an almost comical pomposity.

Read Charles' own comments at Covenant Zone.

Farmers Lose Heart

I've always felt farmers are the most important people. We would live very well without bureaucrats but not without farmers. They evoke hard work, sometimes back-breaking labour, rising before dawn at an hour when some of us city slickers are going to bed, and total dependency on the weather. There is no more wonderful place than a farmers market.

I don't think of them as being suicidal. This item from Philippe de Villiers' blog entry of November 23 brings bad news:

In a press communiqué dated Wednesday (November 22) Coordination Rurale (an independent agricultural union) expressed concern over a "disturbing wave of suicides among farmers that is currently rampant in the Rhône-Alpes region, bringing to 40 the number of deaths since the beginning of the year." Citing the accountability of the "politicians responsible for the grave errors of the current agricultural policies, that prevents farmers from living with dignity from the fruits of their labour and instead transforms them into welfare recipients."

Philippe de Villiers completely supports the Coordination Rurale in their call for the accountability of public officials. This organization has, for many years, along with its colleagues in the European parliament, denounced the absurdity of PAC (Common Agricultural Policy) that attempts to turn our farmers into minimum-wage-earning functionaries living off of subsidies.

At this point de Villiers lists several measures he favors to help the farmers, including a re-vamped agricultural policy that would allow them to live from their work and reestablish the necessary link between work and income, a new pricing policy that takes into account the restrictions placed on European farmers, an end to unfair competition with countries where wages and production costs are low and a withdrawal of farm products from the OMC (Common Markets Organization).

He ends with a wish to make prevalent the notion of the "agricultural exception":

...that is, the right of any country to preserve its independence in the production of food, its own agricultural model and the respect for democratically decided norms of health, security and quality.

I know little about suicide statistics, but 40 suicides in 11 months within one group of people is alarming.

Both PAC and OMC seem to be collectives, that cross national boundaries, and that impose on the farmers standards and strictures that normally would be established on a much more local scale. There is information on both organizations (in French) at this government website.

The miniature plate with a farm scene from Limoges was just sold on e-bay.

The Church In Crisis

The Catholic Church once again has exhibited a startling proclivity for dhimmitude. Since the rise of Islam in France Church leaders have been split between mild criticisms of Islam and outright capitulation to its dictates. During the controversy over the Pope's remarks in Germany there was short-lived period of optimism and hope that at long last the tide was turning. No such thing has happened, as this article from Salon Beige indicates:

On Friday, the Avicenne Institute in Lille was inaugurated - the very first Islamic College in France. Offering 3 classes to its 80 enrolled students, the Avicenne Institute is directed by Mohammed Béchari, president of the Moroccan based National Federation of Muslims of France (FNMF) and vice-president of the French Council of the Muslim Cult (CFCM). Financed indirectly by the CFCM, the FNMF and by foreign countries, including Libya, the Institute is preparing to teach Islam, to train imams, to teach law, art, calligraphy and Arabic. The French State has agreed to provide public financing next year.

But the strangest thing is to realize that among the members of the science advisory council (conseil scientifique) of the Avicenne Institute is the bishop of Lille, Monsignor Defois. During the inauguration ceremony of the Muslim college, he uttered these surprising words:

"Islam is a part of our European roots. I would like us to explore them together so that a common philosophical basis can emerge."

I should point out that the readers' comments to this article expressed no surprise at his actions. He is apparently known for his extremely liberal positions and has resorted to dismissing priests he deemed too "traditional". The readers also explained that he has been decorated by the French State more than any other bishop. In short, the bishop is a politician.

Along the same lines, last month the archbishop of Paris, André Vingt-Trois, made these comments, also from Salon Beige, about the ghettoes of France:


"I don't think that it's a religious problem at all, it's a problem of social violence, which is the reflection and the fruit of a kind of despair for some young people, and it's a kind of rejection of collective institutions.

"There is a profound lack in our society. One cannot say that it is because of the police that there is violence, nor can one say that the youths of the ghettoes have become barbarians. One must determine how the functioning of society can generate violence and especially how to manage it."

The readers' comments were mixed, but tended to be critical, often severely so, of the archbishop.

Salon Beige is a Catholic website and its readers largely devout Catholics. Typically they abide by Church doctrine and remain loyal to their religious leaders, but in cases like these, they are honest enough to rebel against obvious missteps of their Church.

Galliawatch has posted many articles on the crisis within the Church. Among them: Richelieu, Come back! and Catholic Dhimmis. The Pope's controversial speech is here, a discussion of Vatican II is here and a cartoon we all hoped would be symbolic of a new trend is here.

Photo of Bishop Defois from Catholique-Lille.

Why Muslims Vote For Le Pen

Why are some Muslims going to vote for Jean-Marie Le Pen? There's certainly more than one answer. Le Salon Beige, a pro-Le Pen website, offers some answers. Their article is based on a longer article from Le Point that is now archived and only available for a fee. Though it is not specifically stated, I am assuming the first two families are Muslim.

The building where the Hamdani family lives is in Barbès, right in the heart of the Goutte d'Or neighborhood, in Paris. As is often the case in places like this the young people, often Arabs (rebeus) or blacks (renois), rule the streets...Karim Hamdani, 56 years old, stock person in a large store, father of five, of Algerian origin, naturalized in 1993, distinguishes himself by his unusual political viewpoint: "I've been voting for the Front National since 1995!" So have his wife Zora and his eldest daughter Louisa...He has zealously elaborated his own version of Le Pen's aphorism: "France, you like it, you like it, you like it or you leave it..." He gets pleasure from recalling the name of the man who "had the first Arab deputy voted into parliament, who created the organization SOS Iraqi Children and who has given donations to Africa: Jean-Marie Le Pen".

Abdallah Bourakba, also Algerian, ex-member of the RPR Party (Rassemblement pour la République), has had his FN membership card since 1999, father of 2 children who are "unknown to the police," states his commitment: "In the Front National, I'm not considered as merely a token Arab." He says that Arabs now wish to be addressed as equals, without servile flattery or false compassion. Considering his origins, he feels authorized to speak bluntly, so as to preclude any suspicion of xenophobia: "I'm sick of seeing mosques at every street corner, sick of young girls being targeted by Islamists, sick of being sollicited for arranged marriages..."

Farid Smahi, son of a Tuareg (Muslim nomads from North Africa, primarily Algeria), a member of the political organization of the FN since 1998, is in charge of public relations on behalf of the "banlieus" (suburban ghettoes). Last Ramadan, he toured the ghettoes preaching the word of the Front National: "Frenchmen of foreign background...no longer want this 30-year old policy that consists of putting a soccer ball at their feet or a broom in their hands. They will vote for Le Pen in 2007."

Note: Farid Smahi was the man who accompanied Dieudonné to Le Pen's political convention last week. See my article here.

The Salon Beige summary said nothing about the 2 common enemies of Le Pen and the Muslims: Jews and Americans. This is certainly a factor in their support for Le Pen. But it probably doesn't even have to be stated. Le Pen has clearly promised Muslims jobs and status, i.e. economic empowerment. This is sufficient to induce them to vote for him. The Muslims are well-aware of his animosity toward Israel, Jews and America. How he intends to give thousands, if not millions, of immigrants jobs is unclear. It is no doubt one of those campaign promises that only the targeted voters believe in. As a fervent nationalist Le Pen has also promised jobs to Frenchmen. So, he will have his own work cut out for him.

The words "rebeus" and renois", used in the article, are street slang for Arabs and blacks.

More reminders: If anyone is interested in Tuaregs, they figured in my 2-part article on Charles de Foucauld, who was canonized in Rome last year. Click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2.

Soccer Violence

For two days the French websites have been teeming with articles about an incident that occurred Thursday night in Paris. It has been difficult to piece together what happened because initial reports weren't confirmed, one major eye-witness account conflicts with the police reports and the actual identities of the perpetrators and the potential victim were not at first clear.

On Thursday night after a soccer match between a French team - PSG (Paris Saint-Germain) and an Israeli team - Hapoël Tel Aviv, where the Israeli team won, two fans of the Paris team were hit by one bullet fired by a black police officer in the act of defending both himself and a young Jewish fan from gang violence. One of those shot, Julien Quemener age 25, was killed immediately. The other named Mounir was wounded in the lung. The initial police report states that there was only one bullet.

At first the controversy raged over the fact that the Parisian fans were white right-wing extremists and their potential victim was a young Jew who had supported the Israeli team. It then began to appear that even though the whites were indeed "skinheads", the leader was named Mounir and might be Muslim. The controversy then passed to the police officer who many felt should have shot in the air instead of aiming at people.

Some people were sentimentalizing over the fact that a black officer had saved a Jewish lad and how it showed that skin color means nothing.

Some attempted to paint a positive picture of Julien Quemener as an innocent victim. A demonstration for him was held today in his hometown Nantes. The photo above shows the banner saying "The government is an assassin. The truth for Julien."

The Jewish boy himself was interviewed by Myfreesport. His testimony greatly contradicts other reports on the issue of the bullet, but it is possible he was trying to cover up for the officer. Here is a résumé of what he said:

I arrived with friends at 8:30 at the Parc des Princes stadium. I've supported the PSG team for many years and since I'm Jewish this was a great occasion. I applauded every goal. I really didn't care who won.

At the final whistle I stayed for a while in the stadium, maybe 15 minutes, to watch the Israeli fans celebrate, then we left and took Boulevard Murat. As we approached Porte Saint-Cloud there were lots of people in the streets and in the distance we could see flare-ups between CRS (riot police) and PSG fans.

At this point he notes that he was not wearing anything that would indicate whose side he was on or what his religion was. Then he tells how the atmosphere changed:

PSG fans were on both sidewalks and shouting anti-Semitic remarks like "dirty Jews". On arriving at Porte Saint-Cloud we turned around to see who was shouting. They seemed to have singled us out. We moved on. They were fair-skinned, not very tall, with short hair, wearing PSG scarves and heavy coats. We decided to run. Every time I turned around there were two or three of them about 5 yards behind us. I headed for the bus stop opposite McDonald's. My friends went in another direction. Two of my pursuers almost caught up with me but I got away and realized that a little further on 150 people were walking rapidly.

Then a man came running from the center of Saint-Cloud square. He was black, about 30, wearing a heavy white pullover, jeans, a beret and glasses. He slipped to the ground and was punched. He got up, stood in front of me, waved a tear-gas bomb that he activated twice, causing those pursuers who were close-by to disperse. He cried out "police! police!" when he took out his firearm, after he had used up all the tear gas. The gun dissuaded them. It was the only thing that scared them.

The officer was alone. Four or five of them became violent toward the officer. I guided him towards McDonald's where I had seen police cars but when I turned around again the cars were gone. It's incredible that there aren't any police stationed there.

We wormed our way between cars. Those guys began throwing empty beer bottles at us. I did not receive a scratch. The officer protected me constantly. I didn't have time to be afraid. I felt almost safe.

We hurried to get inside of McDonald's. Again the officer slipped to the ground, leaning on one knee. Our assailants again began punching him. He stood up and pointed his gun at a 60º angle into the air to try and disperse them. Some shouted that it was a fake gun and so he fired. That reassured me because I didn't know if it was real or if he was really a policeman.

At this point I'm translating an small section of the interview:

Question: Did he shoot someone point blank?

Answer: I do not remember the weapon touching anybody. I only remember the shot in the air. And that was the only shot I heard. If the bullet had hit someone I would have seen it. I was standing right behind him, one yard away. I saw nobody fall.

Q: Did you say that to the police when they questioned you?

A: Yes.

Q: If what you say is accurate, the bullet did not hit anybody.

A: That's right. That's why I was very surprised when I heard there was a homicide. In my view, it wasn't even self-defense because no one was hit.

Q: And yet the initial reports in the inquiry lead one to believe that the shot killed one person and wounded another. What do you say?

A: I don't know how that bullet could have killed one fan, even less how it could have hit two people in a row.

Q: Did you see or hear the shot?

A: Yes. I saw the shot fired. I was outside the restaurant, I repeat, one yard behind him.

Q: Can you confirm that there was only one shot?

A: Yes, I'm certain of that.

He concludes with a description of how he got out of McDonald's, went home, heard about the homicide and decided to call the police.

Note:The latest word is that the officer Antoine Granomort has been exonerated of all charges. If anyone has more information that would clear up the matter of the bullet, please let me know.

Photo of demonstration by Frank Perry from Yahoo.

Required Reading

Three posts down I published an excerpt from André Servier's book on Islam. More than one reader pointed out to me that an English version of the book exists online at Musulmanbook. I recommend everyone read it, at their leisure, for a penetrating analysis of the Muslim mentality. And I thank my readers for the information.

MRAP Strikes Again

An article in Le Figaro describes the legal actions taken by MRAP (Movement Against Racism and For Friendship Among Peoples) against the publishing house Editions Dalloz for publishing a book containing passages deemed by MRAP to be racist:

A volume from the famous Dalloz publications will be removed from the shelves because of a reference questioned by MRAP. In a letter to Mouloud Aounit, president of MRAP, the president of Editions Dalloz, Charles Vallée, acknowledged that the passage from the General Penal Code referring to "racial heredity" as an "endogenous factor in criminality" was "more than questionable."

Charles Vallée "thanked" MRAP for having drawn his attention to the statement which, "in point of fact lends itself to an interpretation that favors discriminatory arguments."

Editions Dalloz plans to halt all distribution of the work and has requested the author to make the necessary modifications for the next edition.

For its part, MRAP was delighted by the "rapid decision that does honor to Dalloz publications" and thanked the vigilant students who alerted MRAP for their sense of citizenship.

Note: The more you give them, the more they will take. It will never end.

Salon-de-Provence

According to France-Echos the beautiful city of Salon-de-Provence north of Marseilles has been experiencing car and bus burnings. On November 16 ten cars were torched and on Tuesday November 22 and Wednesday November 23 three buses were burned. Two units of CRS (riot police) were sent in from Marseilles to patrol the city.

The astonishing thing is that the press waited one week before revealing the incidents. The regional news on France 3 Television finally reported the burnings on November 23, but that night the evening news on France 2 said nothing about this wave of violence.

One reader of France-Echos sent this report:

I live in Salon-de-Provence in a neighborhood thought to be very quiet. That is, until the night of November 20, 2006 when 3 cars were set ablaze. I was born in this neighborhood and have lived here 39 years. The changes I've seen ("youth", drugs, trafficking)...

But I never imagined that one day I would wake up and see such a disaster. Since then, every night I go to bed wondering if my car will still be there the next day so that I can get to my job.

But today, I read in the papers that not very far from my home 4 buses had burned and that all in all 24 vehicles have been burned in my city.

The people have had enough, but they don't burn cars...

The editor of France-Echos points out that the regional news on France 3 Television uses the logo pictured above.

The Illness and The Cure

A website called Connaissance de l'Islam has a substantial section devoted to a book entitled Islam and the Psychology of the Muslim by André Servier published in 1923 by Augustin Challamel. Here is a brief passage from Chapter XI. In just a few words he speaks volumes. Though he makes no analogy it is difficult not to compare the effects of Islamization to an illness.

Since the same causes produce everywhere the same effects, the various countries conquered by the Arabs followed the example of Spain and worked towards dismembering the (Arab) empire. In Persia, in Mesopotamia, in Egypt, it was nationalist feelings more than anything, awakened by foreign domination and strengthened by religious persecution, that spurred the people to revolt.

This movement for independence reveals a remarkable fact, already noted with regard to Spain: the regions that fall into barbarism under the Arab yoke, return to civilization as soon as they recapture, through emancipation, their freedom to think and to act. It is stunning proof of the nefarious influence exerted by the Arabs. As soon as the Muslim doctrine - a secretion of the Arab mind and a faithful expression of the Arab nature - triumphs, there is an intellectual paralysis of the people on whom it is imposed. Likewise, as soon as this doctrine experiences an eclipse, the people, released into the free inspiration of their nature, escape from barbarism and are reborn into civilization. The history of all the provinces that revolted against Arab authority illustrates this thesis.

The image from Herodote shows the prophet Mohammed in a grotto, his face covered, receiving the word of Allah from the angel Jebrail (Gabriel).

Some Thoughts On Ségolène

Le Conservateur (click Link at end) offers some insights into Ségolène Royal's plans for France. He opens with a statement by Arnaud Montebourg, a socialist deputy from Saône-et-Loire, whom he calls a "little Robespierre". Montebourg claims she was the most left-wing of the three nominees for the candidacy (the other two were Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Laurent Fabius).

According to the little Robespierre of Rue de Solférino, the lady is the furthest to the left of the three, because she wants to attack the "structures". With the same efficiency that (she displayed) at the Ministry of Education?

There is no doubt, Mme Royal is troubling, due to her sectarianism and her ideological vision of the world, that go hand in hand with her amateurism and her weak knowledge of major issues.

But it's impossible to see and hear all of that now, in the deafening chorus of praise being sung by the Parisian elite. It is interesting to note how numerous journalists, men and especially women, forget completely all ethics and objectivity with regard to the sex of the candidate. Not only has the fact that she is female become the unremitting argument in her favor - when it should not count at all in a democracy, but opposition to Ségolène Royal is seen as necessarily misogynist...

We are in familiar territory. Criticize a black man and you are a racist, a Jew and you're anti-Semitic, a Muslim and you're an Islamophobic, a woman and you're misogynist. All discourse becomes impossible because of the inevitable accusation that will be hurled by someone sooner or later. We should be able to criticize conduct, behavior and ideas without being stigmatized. But more than that, we should be able to link certain behavioral patterns to certain groups, when it is patently obvious that there is some connection. The connection does not necessarily have to be permanent or totally irremediable. White males have been subject to hateful and unjustified disparagement if not downright ostracism by women. Why not females?

Now, back to Ségolène. Here are two brief comments from Brussels Journal. The first one, signaled to me by Lawrence Auster, is in the comment section of the article by Paul Belien:

A prediction: If Chirac, who is a political serial killer, succeeds in destroying Sarkozy's bid for the presidency (as Chirac seems intend on doing) the second round of the elections will be fought between Royal and Le Pen, and Royal will become France's next president.

The second one quotes an anonymous source close to Jacques Chirac in the Independent of November 24, 2006:

He [=Chirac] believes that it will be impossible for Sarkozy, or any other male politician of her own generation, to attack Ségolène's offer to be the ‘mother’ of France. Only a ‘grandfather’ can point to the mother’s weaknesses – in other words himself.

Last but not least here is a comment from one of Le Conservateur's readers who, not very chivalrously, refers to Ségolène as "Ségolahaine" (Ségo hatred):

Yes indeed, Ségolahaine is very involved with her servant Montebourg. Ségolahaine really needs someone who tries to think, since she never knows what she said or when she said it! She obviously waits for everyone to bring her information! An incredible demagogy! With Ségolahaine we run the risk of having a vapid president with no ideas and a Stalinist socialist State that will prevent us from talking and force us to all to be good children!

She never got past 6th grade! For a graduate of the National School of Administration, that's a bit unusual!

So, it will be President Royal or President Chirac, and not President Sarkozy? Too soon to say. Restore the monarchy ASAP!

Alliance Of Hypocrites

A tip from Occidentalis led me to a new website - Limes, where this article was posted:

On Monday November 13 members of the "Alliance of Civilizations" met in Istanbul. Noteworthy among the participants were Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations, Federico Mayor, former general director of UNESCO, José-Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spanish prime minister and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish prime minister. This meeting was the occasion to study a document prepared by UN experts, that advocates the promotion of cultural diversity and dialogue between the West and the Muslim world.

Even if the intentions are good, when such a proposal, laden with potential consequences is made, one must proceed with extreme caution. It was, therefore, comical that such a recommendation be proposed in Turkey, a country which even the UN Commission admits is not an example of respect for basic rights of religious minorities. Especially since on November 10, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Tassos Papadopoulos, had met with Pope Benedict XVI to show him photographs of 300 churches destroyed in the northern part of the island occupied by Turkey. Looking at the magnitude of the destruction, the Pope expressed consternation and could not help but say: "It's unbelievable"...

This same "Alliance of Civilizations" Also drew up recommendations in the domain of education with the aim of promoting intercultural dialogue in the media and in school textbooks. Whom do they think they're kidding? Here is what one authority on this issue has said:

Conceived, produced and used by the Palestinian Authority in all of its schools, these textbooks are the keystone of an education system designed and developed in concert with constituants of the international community, first among them the European Union, the countries of Europe and UNESCO. Examining the contents of these books leads to a painful observation: far from advocating coexistence and peace with Israelis, these school texts instill hatred of Israel and the Jews and defend jihad and martyrdom.

At this point the author bemoans the loss of entire generations of young Palestinians who will never have a right to live out their lives or to contribute to the progress of their own people. He wonders how Europe can allow such poison to enter young minds perpetuating a culture of death that is diametrically opposed to its own most cherished values.

He then notes that Zapatero's and Erdogan's "alliance of civilizations" has not said a word about the abject caricatures of Jews transmitted on Arab television or the sermons preached on Palestinian television referring to Jews as sons of pigs and asses or the Syrian series broadcast at prime time showing Rabbis burning a non-Jewish child and drinking his blood. The series in 41 episodes is based on the false document of the tsars, The Protocols of Zion, that depicts Jews as conspiring to take over the world.

The author of the article closes with these words:

Finally the UN experts explain that the "Western military operations in Muslim countries contribute to the climate of fear and animosity". This is debatable with regard to Iraq. I am not one of those who favored intervention in that country. But the report does say "Muslim countries". I conclude that that could mean Afghanistan as well. A country where both Spain and Turkey sent troops, and an intervention that aroused no protest from the UN. Do they mean that we should have left the Taliban in power?...It would be nice if our UN experts were more explicit on this crucial point and on the preceding ones. Otherwise one cannot speak of an alliance of civilizations but an alliance of hypocrites.

Note: The main thing of interest to me is the backing of the EU in the publication of those textbooks. Very ominous, albeit not surprising. The author speaks of Europe's essential values, but those values have undergone a metamorphosis, partly due to socialized education and the inflexible politically correct media.

The photos of the churches destroyed on Cyprus have been discussed at various French websites. The photo above is not one of them. It shows a column from the ruins of an entrance to the Church of St. Nicholas in Myra, Turkey and it comes from a website called Livius, devoted to ancient history with photos galore.

A Special Day

Many of us spend our lives cursing our fate instead of being grateful. But the beauty of the Thanksgiving Day holiday in America is that is prods you gently into a happier frame of mind. There is as much to be grateful for as there is to fret over, but our natures (mine anyway) tend towards the negative side and we spend most of our days worrying, fearing, regretting, and imagining the worst. When I was a little girl Mother wrote this message in my autograph book (remember autograph books?):

"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday and see? That awful thing did not happen."

I want to thank everyone who visits this site and finds something of interest here. Without input from readers this could be an ego trip for one person. But with comments and suggestions it becomes a group effort and it forces me to aim as high as I can within my modest abilities and the restrictions of time (and age). If I don't always respond to your comments, I'm deeply sorry. Sometimes I forget, sometimes there isn't time, sometimes I find the comment long after it was posted.

I want to thank the French people for being interesting, even in their dire distress. Were it not for them, I would have absolutely nothing to say! It is they and their efforts that provide the basis for this site and so many others. France is still, at least in our memories, the center of European culture and despite everything we look forward to the time when she will once again be a sunny land of creativity, in control of her own destiny.

Image of gobbler from Xmission . The website has some wonderful vintage art.

Sins Of The Sons

According to Robert Spieler, writing at his blog, Philippe de Villiers is now in the middle of one of those family dilemmas politicians have nightmares about. It appears that his youngest son has accused the eldest son of raping him 15 years ago. Apparently the youngest has been known to make up stories before. Spieler comments:

...frankly, you can't help wondering...how many manipulations have there been in this 5th Republic that is agonizing on its deathbed?

He then goes on to cite several of the scandals involving false accusations that were later (much later) disproved. Included is the tale (which I remember well) about Claude Pompidou, wife of the president, who was a victim of "fauxtographs" that were intended to prevent the election of her husband. Spieler, who has met tellers of tall tales before, concludes:

I should add that mythomaniacs are rather fascinating. It is totally impossible to make them recognize their lies. If they get trapped, they change the subject or react aggressively.

However, that is not all. In his blog entry of November 21, Philippe de Villiers discusses what appears to be another aspect of the case:

I am the victim of an ignominious political manipulation designed to sully my family in order to injure me as a presidential candidate...There is ample proof of manipulation:

- the suddenness of an infamous accusation in the middle of an electoral campaign even though the alleged facts go back 15 years.

- the person implicated, Guillaume de Villiers, was the target of secret agents ("barbouzes") from intelligence services who accused him of giving me the documents for my book Les Mosquées de Roissy. Today he stands accused while all the facts have justified me. One cannot fail to be surprised at the concomitance of the accusation with the revelations concerning the Islamist baggage handlers at Roissy. (Note: several baggage employees have been relieved of the red badge that permits them to enter restricted areas.)

- The name of the lawyer chosen by the plaintiff speaks volumes: Jean-Marc Fédida, a specialist in political-financial matters, such as subsidized housing.

- Guillaume de Villiers has decided, with his lawyer Alexandre Varaut, to lodge a complaint for "denouncing an imaginary crime", for there is no case.

It is clear that this manipulation seeks to destroy me as a presidential candidate. I will never allow my family to be sullied for political ends."

This is not entirely clear. If I may analyse the sequence: PDV wrote his book on Roissy; later, it would appear, his son Guillaume was accused of giving him the intelligence documents that form the basis of the book; now this same son stands accused by his younger brother of rape! I don't know what Guillaume's involvement was in the writing of the book, that is, why would secret agents accuse HIM of all people? If anyone has more information please let me know.

Seen In Paris Métro

A reader who lives in Paris sent me this photo and it took me a minute or two to realize that black paint had been (rather skillfully) applied to an everyday photo of someone in an advertisement.

He says these are cropping up all over the subway, but the question is who is doing it? Is is Muslims staking their claim on everything, or is it non-Muslims warning of the coming apocalypse? I tend to feel it's non-Muslims sending out a warning. He'll let us know of any further developments.

Yes, But What IS It?

I refer often to the Blue Revolution and to Claude Reichman, but some readers may not know exactly what it is. Here is the best I can do, by way of explanation. If Charles or Truepeers (or anyone) is listening and would like to elaborate further, please do:

It's a citizens' movement. I'm not sure of the exact date, but about a year ago a group of French businessmen, writers, historians, etc...headed by businessman Claude Reichman decided that something had to be done about the decline of France. They launched a movement called the Blue Revolution using mainly the Internet and probably the radio as ways of sending their message. They began holding monthly rallies. At first, just a handful of people came; then, it began to grow and the media took notice. Reichman is the most well-known member. Their agenda is the opposite of everything Chirac, Sarkozy and Royal stand for. They are against immigration, aware of the lethal effects of Islamization, against the welfare state, pro-business, and very much attached to traditions. Reichman has said he's proud to be one of the few successful businessmen not to have left France for more congenial surroundings. (I'm sorry I don't know what line of business he's in.)

The "Blues" are not a political party. They wanted to spread the message. They speak and write wherever they can. One of them, Gérard Pince, does a weekly video where he exhorts the French to wake up before it's too late.

Other than that I don't know very much. One of my readers attends the rallies in Paris. My Canadian readers heard about Reichman soon after he launched the movement and they formed a Canadian counterpart in Vancouver. They meet every Thursday at the Vancouver Public Library. There are little branches of the movement all over the world now, though it still has to be considered as relatively small. But it was a major accomplishment nonetheless for Reichman.

So I guess it's a rescue mission and a movement dedicated to the dissemination of information combined. Western cultures must be saved, and only through informing the population of the "tigers at the gates" can this be done.

Claude Reichman Ousted By Radio Courtoisie

The founder of the Blue Revolution, Claude Reichman, has been fired by the new director of Radio Courtoisie. Reichman broadcast regularly on Radio Courtoisie and has written a long article delving into the legal problems he ran up against. Fortunately for me, fellow-blogger Charles Henry of Covenant Zone has done a fine job of summarizing the tale of woe.

I very much doubt that Reichman can be silenced. Let's hope he finds a new venue in short order.

Letter From Japan

It seems that the ever-vigilant Japanese have been watching events in France with concern. A Japanese radio station, Channel Japan News Radio, sent this message to the offices of the Blue revolution:

We do not have a correspondent in France. We have read with interest and informed our listeners in Japan about the movement called the Blue Revolution. We received a lot of mail about this because the Japanese are very sensitive about what happens in France.

We know too that there are some Frenchmen living in Japan who are followers of your movement.

The fact of the matter is that in interviewing several of your compatriots we noticed that they were very concerned about the situation in France. Some even told us that your country was in a state of civil war. Several of your compatriots have no intention of returning to France, preferring to live and work In Japan.

This has aroused our attention and that of much of the Japanese media. Many journalists are reporting on the evolution of the situation.

You know, despite our cultures that are diametrically opposed, the Japanese love France. We are, therefore, very concerned about the internal deterioration of your country. We are also concerned for our compatriots living in France.

We hope that the French people will find the necessary resources to avoid an escalation of the situation.

Unfortunately, we think that the next presidential elections will solve nothing. You must change your idea of a model society and work to bring about fundamental changes. You ought to follow a path that would offer more RESPONSIBILITY to the French people. We think, unless we are mistaken, that that is not the case today.

Good luck on your initiative. We will continue to follow your progress.

Cordially yours,

CJNR
Channel Japan News Radio

The charming old post card is on sale at e-bay. Click link below.

Royal Challenger

In case you hadn't heard, Ségolène Royal was chosen on Thursday November 16 by the Socialist Party to be its presidential candidate in 2007. She is the first woman to run for president, and she won out over Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Laurent Fabius, two veteran male socialists, both of whom had careers marked by major scandals. She is the partner in civil union of François Hollande, the leader of the Socialist Party, by whom she has four children. This analysis comes from the blog of Pierre-Luc Séguillon and was cited by Le Conservateur. It was written after her appearance on the TV Show Le Grand Jury and a few days before winning the nomination:

(There is) some concern on the part of her supporters regarding Ségolène Royal's ability to deal in precise terms with the major issues of the day, especially economic problems. Concern, therefore, about her ability...to enter into a real presidential campaign where the "more or less" will no longer be acceptable. Last night, when these topics were brought up, the candidate seemed on edge and the faces of her supporters were tensed up. After the program, Julien Dray, admitted, under his breath, that the answers given by the candidate to economic questions by this Grand Jury were still lacking in structure! One of the candidate's supporters bent over backwards to explain that there is a time for everything, a time to declare basic tenets and a time for the technical aspects that would come later. As forJean-Louis Bianco, former general secretary of Elysée Palace, he justified the vagueness, even the vacuousness of some of Ségolène Royal's answers by saying it was a deliberate choice she made so as not to sound like traditional political actors who claim to have an answer to everything...

With regard to possible faux pas made by Ségolène in the past:

(A supporter) added...that in the coming days and weeks we could expect the worst and that the attacks would come from the left as well as from the right. All of which leads one to think that, if she is selected, it will not be easy for Ségolène Royal to lead the socialists after a primary campaign that was urbane for the media but bloody behind the scenes.

I'm glad I stopped by Le Conservateur's website and found his post because I stayed to read his comment section where he hints at a love affair between Ségolène Royal and Louis Schweitzer, the head of HALDE, one of France's most notorious left-wing organizations whose stated goal is to track down any and all cases of racial, religious and sexual discrimination...and to prosecute.

So, maybe watching Ségo in action will be a bit more...interesting than I had thought. (Le Conservateur is not one to gossip idly or to wrongly accuse, but this has NOT been proven.)

Galliawatch has posted several articles on Ségolène Royal beginning with this one on her background. Later she commented on the urban violence here. And Philippe de Villiers answered her here.

Ominous Petition Rejected

I don't really keep up with news from Germany but it was hard to miss this item. A group of German academics has requested that Germany cease it's "special relationship" with Israel, i.e. its pro-Israel policy, so that the government can feel free to support the grievances of the Palestinians, who presumably have suffered greatly as a result of the Holocaust. Here are the opening paragraphs from Ynet News:

BERLIN – Twenty five German academics published a petition Wednesday urging their government to loosen its embrace of Israel and start embracing Palestinians in an unprecedented act in the history of the relationship between Germany and Israel.

The academics in question are highly influential professors at the country’s leading universities which were mainly funded by the German government. Many of them are known for their anti-Israel stances.

The academics called on the German government to stop giving “special treatment” to Israel following the Holocaust and warned that the sympathetic attitude could lead to unrest amidst the German people.

The petition was recently published in the German based journal Frankfurter Rundschau owned by the Dumont Schauberg publishing house. The company recently purchased 25 percent of Haaretz’s stocks.

The 25 petition signers called on a change in the character of the relationship between Israel and Germany, which would lead the two countries to have a “friendship free from past burdens,” one which would leave room for expressing criticism of Israel.

According to the academics, the Holocaust binds Germany to not only stand by Israel, but to also stand by the Palestinians. They said this was important since the ramifications of the Holocaust lead to much suffering for the Palestinians over the past 60 years.

Read the rest of the article here.

An article in The Jerusalem Post announces that the German government completely rejects the petition:

The German Embassy rejected on Thursday a call made by 25 German academics for the country to abandon its "special relationship" with Israel in favor of a stance recognizing Palestinian suffering as an outcome of the Holocaust...

A German Embassy spokesman in Tel Aviv, however, dismissed the petition. "It in no way reflects the position of the German government. The position of the German government regarding the special relationship with Israel will not change."

He described that relationship as stemming from German behavior in the Holocaust.

"We accept fully that because of the Shoah, the German people and [government] have a special responsibility to the State of Israel," he said, emphasizing that all of Germany's top leaders have stressed their support for this policy in recent years.

Click Link below for the whole article.

The issue of the so-called "right to criticize Israel" or, to put it differently, the taboo on criticizing Israel, is a topic that arouses angry debates at the French websites. I think the problem stems from the fact that there are two ways of criticizing Israel: one, as a friend and the other as a pro-Palestinian. Within Israel itself the debate rages.

Friends and supporters of Israel were shocked when Ehud Olmert stopped the war in Lebanon long before the job of disabling Hezbollah was completed. Their criticism was aimed at prodding Israel to wake up, rid herself of Socialists, and recapture the patriotic spirit of yore. Enemies of Israel were also critical, but for opposite reasons. The German academics are enemies of Israel; their so-called criticism masks a desire to collaborate with terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah. America is moving in this direction...ominously.

Disarming Le Havre

In recent days, police have been attacked by gangs of "youth" in Le Havre and Bordeaux, reports France-Echos, adding:

These attacks against policemen on duty took place on the very day that demonstrations by the Alliance police union were scheduled to take place in several French cities. This union is still the largest. Said to be close to the Interior Ministry, Alliance is vilified by official propaganda that is forever singing the praises of UNSA, a rival union, deeply infiltrated by dhimmis and said to be close to the Socialist Party.

With its usual courage, the propaganda does not indicate the origin of the aggressors.

France-Echos then turns specifically to the case of Le Havre, whose mayor, Antoine Rufenacht, justifies the absence of firearms:

The Havre city police are not armed. "Antoine Rufenacht, the mayor does not want them to carry firearms," says his security assistant, Bertrand Binctin, who shares the mayor's sentiments. To defend themselves, the officers are armed with a club, familiarly known as a Tonfa, but also with a small scale tear-gas bomb, handcuffs and bullet-proof vests.

These vests have reduced the scale of injuries, but victims, be they men or women, have been taken by surprise by violent shocks to the chest and back, plus cuts to the face. "These acts of great violence were meant to intimidate the police. Only minimally were they committed to do serious harm," said an angry Bertrand Binctin, who appreciates the reaction of the police officers who were molested:

"Not one man, not one woman, young or not so young, expressed afterwards a desire to carry a firearm. They are armed with good professional training. They know that if they stay in groups of two or three they can defend themselves. They have exhibited this attitude and this esprit de corps during and after the assault."

The contributor to France-Echos concludes with some advice:

France is slowly on the road to disintegration, like Lebanon or the former Yugoslavia. In light of the increase in the number of attacks on police, we can expect a return to "urban violence" as soon as somebody in the camp of the "racaille" is killed.

Since the inter-ethnic war appears more and more inevitable, I invite readers of France-Echos to learn the martial arts, to study the regulations for firearms and to arm themselves, so long as the authorities permit.

Galliawatch reported on the Alliance police union in a September post.

Old photo showing the arrival (or departure?) of the Ile-de-France from Lehavrephoto, where you can view many interesting photos of the city.

Daily Motion

Most readers are familiar with Daily Motion, the Internet video service. Many of the videos posted at the French websites I consult are from Daily Motion. For some reason, I did not realize it was a French group, probably because of the name. It appears also that Daily Motion is pro-Islamic and in the habit of censuring anti-Islamic videos. France-Echos has posted a Daily Motion video showing the total destruction of an American hummer to the cries of Allah Akbar.

You can also view it at the Daily Motion website, if you're registered - it's for adults only. The comments there were virulently negative. Here are a few of the more courteous ones:

- Justifying terrorist crimes. This will cost the author dearly and Daily Motion as well.

- I see that Allah and his terrorists have the blessing of Daily Motion.

- Daily Motion does not censor this type of video - on the one hand, it's unfair because they censor anti-Islamic videos, but on the other hand, it's good because it will only reenforce hatred for this "religion".

- Did this happen in Paris?

Paris Honors Algerian Hero

Never at a loss for finding new heros after whom to name a street or a square, the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë has now honored the champion of Algerian resistance Emir Abd El-Kader. France-Echos reports, citing Jeuxvideo as their source:

Emir Abd El-Kader, hero of the Algerian struggle against French colonization, now has his own square in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, not far from the Arab World Institute and the Great Mosque.

In the presence of one of the great-grand-sons of this great warrior who led the war against the French and organized an Arab State founded on Islam, the mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë praised "a magnificent person" through whom the French capital wishes to "render homage to the Algerian people".

Algeria's national hero, Abd El-Kader led the war against French troops in the 19th century before taking refuge in Morocco. After surrendering to the French in 1847, he was held prisoner until Napoleon III released him in 1852. He spent the second part of his life in the Near East.

The new Abd El-Kader Square, situated at the juncture of Poliveau, Fossés Saint-Marcel, and Saint-Hilaire Streets, will allow us to inscribe the name of this "Algerian nationalist (...) in the eternity of Paris", stressed the mayor...

The decision to name a square in Paris after Emir Abd El-Kader was made by the Paris City Council on May 16th. Paris already has two squares bearing the names of other North African leaders: Place Mohammed V, the former King of Morocco, inaugurated in 2002, and Esplanade Habib Bourguiba, leader of Tunisian independence, inaugurated in 2004.

The image of Abd El-Kader is from Herodote.

The Good Life

From Philippe de Villiers' blog entries of November 14, comes this post about the good life in French prisons. Apparently "estates general" refers to the body of prisoners and their advocates:

The Estates General of prisons met yesterday in Paris, three weeks after the publication of the results of an unprecedented inquiry conducted with inmates by the International Observatory of Prisons (a prisoner advocacy group), that has been the thorn in the side of prison administrators. The inmates fully intend to transform this experiment into something tangible. In a few days, each candidate for the presidency will receive the manifesto derived from the results of the questionnaire given to prisoners "so as to arouse a personal commitment". The Estates General are also demanding that a law be voted making it essential to prepare ahead of time for the prisoners' arrival. Putting inmates in a prison close to their home, installing sanitary conditions that respect privacy, allowing daily access to activities, to training and to work...are also some of the priorities of the 58,000 French inmates.

Photo of Tower of London from Fotosearch.

Christian Cemetery In Ruins

France-Echos has published a series of photographs showing the neglect and vandalism of the Christian cemetery in Casablanca:

Tombs and caves desecrated, statues and crosses pulled down. Such is the sight that awaits visitors to this place that respects neither human dignity nor the human soul.

In the heart of the cemetery about 50 people live in small houses, that were offered as public housing to retirees.

One of the guards explained that the French embassy is no longer the proprietor. Now the government of Morocco alone is responsible for managing the cemetery...

For many more photos click here:

De Villiers On Dieudonné

Phiippe de Villiers posted several short articles about the appearance of Dieudonné at the Front National's convention last weekend. Here is a sampling, culled from several posts at P2V, his official blog. Note: permanent links are not operating at his site, so I'm providing the general link:

The traditional BBR (blue, white, red) festivity, re-baptized "The Presidential Convention of Le Pen 2007", was held this weekend at Le Bourget and was attended by 3500 participants according to France 1 and not the 30,000 expected by the organizers. It was marked by the incredible visit of "humorist" Dieudonnée.

His presence shocked a great many participants who watched him move among the stands and chat with Jean-Marie Le Pen, and with V.I.P's of the FN, delighted by the presence of the provocative performer whose eccentricities match those of the old leader. Libération (left-wing) exclaimed: "He was welcome at the rally of the patriots".

Judging by the number of e-mails and calls from FN sympathizers, received at the headquarters of the MPF (Movement For France), the presence of Dieudonné this weekend at the "Presidential Convention" did not go unnoticed. Revolted by this visit that was far from innocuous and that demonstrates, as if it were needed, the inability of the FN to transform itself into a credible national political party, the party members are starting to ask questions...

Symbolic of the will of Marine Le Pen to un-demonize the Front National, the visit of Dieudonné resounds also as the failure of her strategy. One does not give credibility to a political movement by calling in a caustic representative of the extreme Left, an anti-Semite and an ethnic separatist...only a few imbeciles, who have never ceased to nourish themselves on old hatreds, could ever rejoice at such a visit.

Upon "discovering" Dieudonné in the corridors of Le Bourget, the leaders of the FN feigned surprise, but one would have to be very naïve to believe that the comedian had not warned them of his visit! According to Libération: "This surprise visit had [even] been prepared long ago by party leaders."

As for the MPF, we have never regretted having refused the offer (of union) from Jean-Marie Le Pen. And the presence of the comedian Dieudonné only confirms our analysis: the FN is a drunken vessel tossed about by the waves, pulled between the desire to un-demonize itself on the one hand and the old primal demons...on the other.

The photo taken last week is from his website.

Unholy Alliance Revisited

The big news last weekend was the "surprise" appearance of Dieudonné M'Bala M'Bala at the political convention of the Front National, the party of Jean-Maire Le Pen. First of all, he arrived with Farid Smahi (in gray suit), an Arab member of the party. Smahi, an Algerian, has been collaborating closely with Le Pen since 1997 and for a while was a regional councillor. He claims to be against dual nationality and says one cannot be loyal both to France and another country. However he has been accused by the Socialists of working closely with Islamic leaders, thereby creating one prong of a three-pronged collaboration - a sort of troïka - consisting of religious fundamentalists, the extreme Right (Le Pen) and the extreme Left (Dieudonné et al...)

This appearance by the French comedian re-ignites memories of last May, when the first rumblings of collusion between Le Pen and "Dieudo" were made public.

At the convention on Saturday November 11 Dieudonné tried to give the impression that he had "reformed" saying that he had been manipulated by anti-racist groups and that he had been warmly welcomed by the FN.

Later he said that Le Pen would most likely make it to the second round of the voting . "I am for a coming-together, to stop with all these ethnic tensions, so that we can have peace."

For his part Jean-Marie Le Pen said, "If I needed one vote to be elected, I would be happy for it to be Dieudonné's."

In the videos that are circulating Dieudonné is soft-spoken and plays up the "need for unity" theme.

The French websites are all interpreting this event in their own way, and according to their own perspective. Occidentalis is not surprised at Le Pen's "coming out", since they have always maintained that Le Pen is in the habit of creating unholy alliances just before elections. They have also maintained that Le Pen does not really want to win, but merely tries to manipulate voters to vote for the establishment candidate. Vox Galliae, a pro-Le Pen site, claims the 3-day convention was an unqualified success, attended by 22,000 people. The "Lepenistes", in general, see no harm in the comedian's presence and the Left is sorry Dieudonné has been duped.

Philippe de Villiers, however, did not mince words. He lashed out at the event, calling it a set-up and expressing his relief that he never united with Le Pen, as many thought he would.

I tend to feel the idea of a troïka is accurate. Assuming Le Pen becomes president, is he going to start deporting Algerians, blacks, Muslim fundamentalists who helped put him in power? I doubt it.

If he loses, he (or his daughter Marine) will continue to cultivate the complicity with Muslims and blacks, in opposition to President Sarkozy, who will no doubt bend to the will of the non-French elements out of sheer pressure from what has become a more than critical mass of invaders living comfortably on French soil.

There are several videos of Le Pen delivering his keynote address at the convention. Click here for the last part, that includes a rousing Marseillaise.

Galliawatch has published 3 major articles on Dieudonné: the first a rundown of his place in French politics, the second his diatribe against Julien Dray, a French Jewish politician (socialist) who blamed the riots of last year on Dieudo's influence, and the third entitled "Unholy Alliance" about the reported collusion.

Click the link below for the photo.

Easy Access

Nicolas Sarkozy continues to push the envelope into dhimmitude. According to Chouan writing at Vox Galliae, it will be a cinch for Algerians to enter France (not that it has been much of a hassle for them up to now), now that Sarko promises easy access to visas for anybody who asks. Chouan opens with a summary from left-wing Humanité:

It is public knowledge in Algeria that their suitcases have been packed and ready-to-go for a long time. Seventy-five percent of the population there is under 30. A large majority of young Algerians have their eyes on the coastline. France is still an El Dorado for all those who, despite the joys and the amazing progress that have resulted from independence, are still unemployed, without a future and forced to live or rather to survive on all kinds of trafficking...Anyway, that is how an article in Humanité explains it.

It is also public knowledge among the police who patrol our disappearing borders that clandestine immigration is made possbile first and foremost by the visas granted by France to Algeria and other countries for short holidays and for family matters.

What Algerian today does not have at least one relative, an uncle, a cousin living in France for decades? All Algerians potentially have the right and the opportunity to request a visa.

In this current climate of pressure from mass migrations, Sarkozy finds nothing better to do, a few months from the presidential elections, and no doubt to court the million bi-nationals and the millions of voters of Algerian origin, than to promise visas as if he were offering bon-bons to these youth who are just waiting for the green light to come live with us!

According to RESF (a pro-immigration organization), only three days of waiting will now be required to receive an answer from the visa office, which, to be more efficient, is being transferred from Nantes to Algiers in 2007!

The photo of the beautiful Notre-Dame d'Afrique Church in Algeria is one of many at Algerie Casbah. Click the link.

The "Blues" Meet Again

Their counterparts in Canada already met last Thursday, where they always do, at the Vancouver Public Library. The French branch will unite with their founder Claude Reichman this Thursday, November 16. This announcement is from Révolution Bleue.

No, Monsieur Chirac, the roots of Europe are not "as Muslim as they are Christian" as you have audaciously claimed.

The Blue Revolution will respond solemnly on Thursday November 16, from 6:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. on the occasion of its 9th national meeting during which we will proclaim:

- the affirmation of Western values

- support for the police in their difficult fight against crime

In Paris the meeting will be held at the place du Châtelet on the central terrace (métro stop Châtelet)

In the provinces the blue revolutionaries will unite in front of their town hall.

Frenchmen! Frenchwomen! Turn out in great numbers to show your desire to live in peace, and according to your convictions, in a country that is yours and that must remain so.

Self-Defense - Update

My post on René Dahan, arrested (and released 2 weeks later) for killing a burglar may be more complicated than expected. According to Vox Galliae:

Mr. Dahan runs a fairly high risk of being convicted since the autopsy revealed that one of the 5 bullets had been shot into the back of the burglar.

The article also informs us that the judge who arrested him justified his action on the grounds that he was protecting Mr.Dahan from possible reprisals.

Vox Galliae closes with:

We feel that Mr. Dahan should be decorated for his act of bravery.

A Double Standard

Last November 4, during the riots that raged throughout the French banlieue, a retired man from Stains (Seine-Saint-Denis) named Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec was killed as a result of being beaten by a hooded criminal. He and a neighbor were talking in front of their apartment building when the thug, and an accomplice, approached them, asked what they were talking about and slugged both of them. The neighbor, Jean-Pierre Moreau, survived, but Le Chenadec died 3 days later. His widow said that Interior Minister Sarkozy had promised to do everything he could.

Now that a year has passed, nothing has been done. Two contributors to France-Echos wonder why. The first, Fièrté Gauloise, sees a sign that the media are changing sides:

France 2 is starting to ask questions. Is the wind changing direction?

Last night, November 4, 2006, on the evening news, there was a homage to Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec, the retiree wantonly murdered last year during the so-called "riots" by cowards whose only motive was anti-white racism. Anchor Beatrice Schoenberg did not fail to ask this question:

"In the Marseilles bus-burning, 5 days was all it took to find the killers, which proves that when the police want to find, they find. But strangely enough, one year later, the killers of Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec are still on the run. Is there a deliberate attempt not to throw oil on the fire?"

Note: The woman burned in Marseilles was an African from Senegal named Mama Galledou. She is still fighting for her life.

For once, the media are putting their money where their mouth is. Let's salute them.

Yes, there is a double standard:

If a North African or a black gets killed inside an electrical transformer, where he shouldn't be in the first place, then we hear about it all the time and they even go so far as to make us contribute to a commemorative plaque for something that amounts to a suicide.

If a young African woman is burned in a bus, the killers are quickly arrested, but what about the white woman burned in similar circumstances last year? Have her attackers been arrested?

For Ilan Halimi, they arrested Fofana, because the Jewish community knew how to apply pressure, but for a white person, an ethnic Frenchman, a European, nothing!

Note: Ilan Halimi was the young Jewish boy kidnapped and tortured to death over a period of several days last February.

The iron-clad lid, that oppresses us, is beginning to crack as people become aware of the evidence of anti-white, anti-French racism on the part of our leaders.

Enough is enough!

Another contributor Arnaud Amaury writes:

Where is our elite? Did one of them comment on the anniversary of the death of Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec? No! They were too busy commemorating the deaths of the two thugs ( he is referring to the two "youth" who walked into an electrical transformer and whose deaths presumably triggered the riots). And then there was Villepin, sent by Sarkozy, who dared say to the Anglo-Saxon press (who are no fools) that there were no deaths in the November 2005 riots. For them obviously, the deaths of ethnic Frenchmen are unimportant, just collateral damage to tally in with the profits and losses.

On November 7,2005 Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec died having been fatally beaten by a brutal criminal.

He was a quiet man, a member of his apartment building's organized committee, who was concerned about destruction of public property, especially trash can fires and car burnings. He died because he modestly refused to bend to the law of the thugs.

Let us not forget him. And at the risk of making our RG (Intelligence Services) work harder (...) I would like to ask this question: Wouldn't the Interior Minister do better to perform his ministerial functions rather than strutting before the cameras in view of getting elected supreme magistrate?

P.S. If you are the mayor of a town, I would suggest naming a street or public edifice after this victim of thuggery. It's one way to let people know that we have not forgotten and that we cannot tolerate these murders.

Since the name Le Chenadec is Celtic, and since I know Fièrté Gauloise is of Celtic origin, I chose a Celtic cross from Wikipedia.