September 4, 2010

The BIG news this week will be the latest Apéro organized by Riposte Laïque. If you were not around a few months ago and need some filling in, an "apéro", short for "apéritif", is like a before-dinner cocktail, but in this context it has taken on the aspect of a major demonstration against the Islamization of France and for the values of the Republic. The "apéro" last June 18 was banned by the authorities from its original meeting place in order not to anger the neighborhood's ruling Muslims, and moved to the Champs-Elysées. Also banned was the drinking of wine, with grape juice serving as a sorry substitute. However, sausages were allowed. The point of wine and sausage was to protest the subversion by Islam of French civilization, including the food and drinks we all associate with France (click Apéro label below for more information).

Last June's Apéro put the very republican website Riposte Laïque on the map, and the outdoor demonstration made headlines all over Europe, with other countries also organizing their own version of a patriotic picnic.

One of the major contributors to Riposte Laïque, Maxime Lépante, will be in the United States during the whole month of September, meeting with the organizers of the opposition to the Ground Zero mosque (another major event that coincides with France's Apéro). Lépante is the now-famous photographer who took numerous photos of Muslims praying on Friday afternoon in the streets of the 18th arrondissement of Paris (click Barbès label below for a review).

The latest Apéro will take place in six French cities - Paris, Bordeaux, Lyons, Strasbourg, Toulon, and Toulouse.

This time beer is banned, inebriated individuals will be removed, and only French flags will be allowed to fly, in order to show unity despite political differences. (It isn't clear if wine is allowed this time.)

The Apéro is being held on September 4 - an important date in French history - on that date in 1870, one hundred forty years ago, the Third Republic was proclaimed. This came after the disastrous Franco-Prussian War that brought down Napoleon III, unified Germany, and (to the frustration of many) dashed hopes for a restoration of the monarchy, which in 1870 was still a possibility.

However one may feel about the Republic or about Riposte Laïque with its left-wing roots, its Phrygian bonnets, its tedious and potentially dangerous feminism and egalitarianism, and its stubborn anti-clericalism, it has to be acknowledged that some members of RL have awakened to the real dangers stalking their country and to the appalling and treasonous behavior of their elected officials. In a mess such as the one the French find themselves in today, we have to be grateful for small favors. Many politicians have disappointed us - Philippe de Villiers, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Jean-Marie Le Pen, all of whom attracted and nurtured the hopes of many Frenchmen eager to save themselves and their country. Many religious leaders have both shocked and discouraged us - priests and rabbis who grovel to the imams, cryptic statements from a very intelligent, but overly-cautious Pope. So we may be disappointed again, but it is worth a try, and if I were in France, I would attend one of these parties, armed with good French food and drink.

The poster at the top is the call to resist. The struggle is portrayed in feministic terms - the Republic with her Phrygian bonnet wrestles with a burka-covered Muslim.



The organizer of the event is Christine Tasin, a contributor to Riposte Laïque, and also president of a group called Résistance Républicaine that she founded not long ago in the wake of the successful June 18 Apéro.

The website of Résistance Républicaine is undergoing some maintenance, but here is the message from the general secretary, Gérard Couvert:

The republican "apéritif" of September 4, organized by Résistance Républicaine in six cities of France, marks our will and our capacity for organization, even during an unfavorable time of the year.

It is of primordial importance that each one of us mobilize.

Nonetheless, this event is only the prelude to a year of struggle; our enemies understand this and are becoming more incisive and more threatening. In so doing they are only re-enforcing our determination.

The "reconquête" begins on September 4.

Note: "Reconquête" = Reconquista

Many groups, associations and websites are joining in the resistance movement and calling on the people to come out on September 4. These groups are listed in French at the link provided above. Among them are SITA and Bivouac-ID, two sites that I have often consulted.

Below a cartoon from Riposte Laïque showing the chairman of the French Socialist Party, Martine Aubry, sitting on top of the Republic, waving an EU-Islamic flag, and proclaiming that "Sarkozy is destroying France and her values."

The irony is that Sarkozy IS destroying France with the same values as the Socialist Party! It's just that he disbanded a few illegal gypsy camps, and made idle threats about deporting a few criminals, and that is sufficient for the Socialists to bemoan the racism and xenophobia of the man who opened the borders, shoved his country into the EU, ordered his police not to harm immigrant criminals, and proclaimed "métissage" the new duty of all good Frenchmen.



Much more will follow. The amount of commentary at Riposte Laïque is unmanageable - a small selection will have to do.

One final note: I had originally thought that the Paris demonstration would be held in the neighborhood of La Goutte d'Or, where the previous June 18 Apéro was scheduled to meet before the authorities forced a change. But it is instead being held at Place de la Bourse in the 2nd arrondissement. The French Left (all the groups and parties combined) is also holding an "anti-Sarkozy" demonstration on September 4. Their goal is to make Sarkozy repent for his cruelty to foreigners (or something like that). In addition, Ramadan is still on until September 11 (another fateful date!), and Islamic demonstrations are scheduled to take place in Paris, during this time.

I will do my best to sort this out. I truly hope that Riposte Laïque can bring the people out in great numbers. A big turnout would encourage others, and the movement could grow into something significant.