Muslim Day Parade - NYC

Go to Bivouac-Id for photos and videos of the Muslim Day Parade 2010, that took place on Sunday September 26, on Madison Avenue in NYC. Here is a small sampling:

The CFCM Gains Ground

Here is a companion piece to my post entitled Ramadan Litany, adapted from Novopress, on the growing influence of the CFCM in France. The French Council of the Muslim Faith is a government agency created in 2003 by then Interior Minister Sarkozy, for the purpose of acting as an authority on issues dealing with Islam in France, although the original initiator of the project, in 1999, was Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevènement, a leftist politician in the Socialist government of Lionel Jospin.

The CFCM deals with relations between Muslims and the French government, the building of mosques, halal, the training of imams, decisions to issue fatwas in France, and other similar questions.

On Monday, September 7, Mohamed Moussaoui (photo), president of the CFCM, presided over a prestigious dinner celebrating the closing of the Ramadan fast.

Ministers Brice Hortefeux (Interior), Eric Besson (Immigration), Fadela Amara (Housing) and Nadine Morano (Family) were there, as was Jean-Paul Huchon, president of the Regional Council of Ile-de-France and Claude Bartolone, president of the General Council of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis. Several prefects were also present, including Michel Gaudin, prefect of Paris, as was the president of the Council of State.

Among the leading ecclesiastical personalities present were Cardinal Vingt-Trois, the archbishop of Paris, the president of the Bishops' Conference, and pastor Claude Baty, president of the Protestant Federation of France.

All of the most eminent representatives of the Jewish community were also present: the Grand Rabbis of France and Paris, the presidents of the central and Parisian consistories, the president of the United Jewish Appeal, and the president of CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France). CRIF, it is true, serves as a reference and a model for the organization and methods of the CFCM.

Note: The Central Consistory was created in 1808 by imperial decree. Despite the comparison, it differs radically from the CFCM in at least one respect. A Salon Beige reader explains:

- The consistory was obligated to accept religious freedom, that is, the freedom for each person to choose his religion. This was not the case with the Muslim religious authorities, before whom Nicolas Sarkozy bowed, something the media never talks about. Are there any media in France?

To which another reader responds:

- Sarkozy, alas, is not Napoleon.

Those interested can consult this Wikipedia page on Napoleon and the Jews. His position on the Jews is very interesting. He made them become Frenchmen first, and Jews second. Loyalty to France was of primal importance, both to him and to them.

It should be noted also that CRIF is politically oriented, and therefore prone to adopt government policies as a means of achieving power and influence. The consistory is religious in nature and, theoretically at least, rejects political power as a goal. However, insofar as it supports the CFCM on issues such as halal, it also collaborates with the French State on the Islamization of France project (if I may call it thus).

Now back to the article:

The president of the CFCM read out the list of demands of the Muslim community: Muslim cemeteries and mosques.

Adopting victimary thinking - all the while protesting that he was not - Mohamed Moussaoui denounced "the way the media and the politicians get carried away with talk about Islam's place and its ability to integrate into society, the excesses that punctuated the debates on national identity, the burka, the Swiss vote banning minarets, halal, etc... All of this has nourished a type of self-protective reflex ('crispation') and threatened our ability to live together."

Mohamed Moussaoui deplored the fact that "polls taken during these debates revealed that 40% of French people deem the practice of Islam incompatible with their way of life." This did not prevent him from demanding more Muslim sectors in French cemeteries and a doubling of space for mosques. He thanked Prime Minister François Fillon for his presence at the opening of the grand mosque of Argenteuil and Brice Hortefeux for his presence in similar circumstances in Clermont-Ferrand.

Mohamed Moussaoui also thanked Brice Hortefeux for his agreement to pursue "anti-Muslim acts" in the same way as "anti-Semitic acts." He acknowledged as well the role played by public authorities and the concerted action with the central Jewish consistory that permitted, "after a long battle, the defense of ritual animal slaughter on the European level."

Skipping to the part of the article dealing with halal:

Brice Hortefeux was even more positive on the topic of halal, declaring: "We have also advanced together on the question of ritual slaughter, since the European Union, through a new ruling, has consolidated the conditions for the practice. I cannot help but feel satisfaction over the degree of cooperation on this matter between the Jewish and Muslim religions. Furthermore, I can affirm that we are remaining vigilant, especially at this moment as the topic is being discussed anew in the European Parliament."

In fact, the French government is opposed to the Austrian halal standard that provides for stunning the animal before slaughter. It is easy to understand Brigitte Bardot's anger - she had received promises from Nicolas Sarkozy on the protection of slaughterhouse beasts, since slitting the throat of the animal without any previous anesthesia causes a long and painful agony. The "French halal referential" that is being drawn up will ban all forms of pain killers for the animals.

Note: This is terrible. I didn't realize the French government had gone this far. To actually BAN any form of anesthesia is tantamount to taking part in the Muslim practice itself. So Sarkozy and his government and all the members of the UMP and PS parties, all the Communists and all the Greens (!) will dive into their lamb stew knowing that they are participating in a bloody religious ritual?

Brice Hortefeux also rejected the expression "radical Islamism" in favor of "extremism". The word "Republic" was widely used, while "communitarianism" was condemned.

The Muslim authorities skillfully dress their demands in official "newspeak", while the ministers use euphemisms to cover up reality, and to act in direct opposition to the principles they claim to represent.

Note: While we're on the topic of halal again, here is distressing news from England. But it applies to all countries that import New Zealand lamb (including the USA):

More than 70% of the lamb from New Zealand sold in Great Britain comes from halal slaughterhouses, without the slightest mention of the fact on the labels. In these establishments, all the throat-cutters of animals must be Muslims and say a prayer as they make an incision across the throat of the animal. Due to the growing demand and to the on-going Islamization of Western societies, the New Zealand meat industry has decided to conform massively to halal slaughter so that its lamb can be sold in the growing number of Muslim markets throughout the world.

This news is arousing anger and controversy in Great Britain because of the total absence of labeling on the packages. Uninformed consumers are forced to eat halal in spite of themselves. The situation is shocking both to non-Muslims and to animal rights advocates... (...)

Photo via Saphir News. French readers who visit Saphir News will find the complete text of Moussaoui's speech.

René Galinier - Update 2

You may recall the story from last month about a 74-year old man whose home was burglarized by two Roma girls. In the darkness, René Galinier took his shotgun and shot blindly at the two intruders who were wounded but not killed. They have since been released from the hospital. "Papy" Galinier, as the French call him affectionately, has been in jail now for 52 days, for the crime of trying to defend himself against burglars, and above all for the crime of calling them "sale race" - dirty race.

Since the event took place there has been an impressive mobilization of support for Galinier, from the people of his home town, from Frenchmen all over France, from certain politicians, candidates, journalists and now even from a Bourbon prince!

Demonstrations have been held in the following cities:
Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice, Béziers, Nissan, Montpellier, Saint-Louis, Strasbourg, Altkirch, Masevaux, Thann, Mulhouse, Colmar, Sélestat, Nantes, Trégor, Rennes, Brest, Tours, Nevers, Clermont-Ferrand, Rouen. More are planned.

A website devoted entirely to Papy Galinier's story is up and running - French readers can consult Liberez René Galinier. The driving force behind these actions to liberate him is the Bloc Identitaire, its energetic news service - Novopress, a site I use frequently, and Richard Roudier, president of the Ligue du Midi, another regional party in the south of France.

One article at this new website tells of the visit paid to René Galinier by Elie Aboud, deputy of the ruling UMP party. Aboud who spent about twenty minutes with Galinier relates:

"He is fine, although a bit depressed. He's a good Christian, which means he can face adversity. He's a perfectly charming man who is sorry that the two burglars came close to being killed.

"I am not here to influence the decision of the courts. I'm doing my job. I'm applying the law. I will leave to Monsieur Roudier, president of the national committee, the task of creating in a dignified manner the momentum he feels is necessary."

Note: The law in question stipulates that elected members of the National Assembly and Euro-deputies elected in France have the right to visit, at any time, prisoners and detention centers.

The deputy added that René Galinier had been particularly touched by his visit, that he is following everything that happens in his favor, and that the rallies supporting him give him comfort.

The article then relates the story of one René Dahan, a 58-year old businessman, who in October of 2006 left his home in Nogent-sur-Marne. Three individuals were waiting for him. They pushed him back into his house, pointed a Magnum 357 under his chin, and threw his wife to the ground. He fought back. In the struggle he managed to grab the weapon and shoot one of the assailants three times, killing him. The criminal fell out of the window with two bullets in his back. René Dahan was jailed and charged with voluntary homicide. The Minister of Justice at the time was Pascal Clément and the Minister of the Interior... Nicolas Sarkozy. A few days later, Pascal Clément received a letter from Sarkozy calling to his attention the special case of René Dahan. In the letter he said:

"This affair has aroused strong feelings among our fellow citizens. They cannot understand how an honest man, attacked in his own home, threatened with a gun and fearing for his life and that of his wife, could be charged with voluntary homicide and put in jail."

Ten days later, René Dahan was released.

You can review my two posts from 2006 on René Dahan, the first one dated November 12, the short follow-up dated November 14.

The case of René Galinier will come up again in the courts on Tuesday September 28.

Bruno Gollnisch, vice-president of the Front National wrote an open letter to Nicolas Sarkozy reminding him of the case of René Dahan, and of the obvious differences between the two incidents - René Dahan killed one of his attackers by shooting him in the back, René Galinier did not kill anyone. The former was released after ten days, the latter is still in jail.

The two young female burglars, by the way, are in good shape.

Marine Le Pen, also vice-president of the Front National issued a communiqué in which she made the following declarations:

The announcement that the septuagenarian from Nissan-Lez-Ensérune is still being held shows, as if there were need, that, besides the artificial ministerial claptrap about security, criminals in France have nothing to fear from the justice system, but decent people do.

When a State prosecutor who is expressing the point of view of the Justice Ministry spreads the word via the press that the two female burglars who are part of organized networks were "victims of society", then all citizens can legitimately feel themselves abandoned by the institutions that are supposed to protect them.

It is equally scandalous to find that fifty years later, French public institutions consider service in Algeria as an official indication of guilt, a sort of aggravating circumstance. Could M. Galinier also be guilty of having done his duty when he was twenty years old and of having obeyed legitimate orders of the government at the time? (...)

How can one not be concerned when a particularly condemning and definitive justice system goes, without further ado, to the media the minute a simple citizen who is not about to burn any cars or rebel against authority is involved. The presumption of innocence invoked by the rogues of the Republic and by the multi-recidivists, to justify any and all laxness on the part of the government and the judiciary, applies to ordinary citizens as well, does it not? (...)

All Frenchmen feel it to be true, that the insane judicial-administrative machine against the French people did not stop with the reign of Sarkozy, but worsened and accelerated. In a France ruled by the UMPS, it is always impunity for criminals and more and more severity for honest people. (...)

Note: UMPS = UMP plus PS. Sarkozy's ruling party has long been regarded as hardly any better than the Socialist Party, and France has become a one-party State, unless the FN can gain significant support from a very frustrated population.

Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma, French-born member of the Spanish royal family, and an advocate of Carlism (traditionalism, Catholicism), has taken an initiative in favor of René Galinier. The prince has, in the past, supported the Front National.

Finally, French readers may want to listen to Eric Zemmour, one of the few journalists to espouse a traditionalist and realistic point of view regarding Islam, crime, and national identity, among other issues. The Daily Motion video is posted here.

At top, poster from the Front National website indicating the number of days Galinier has been in jail. The number changes daily. It is now 53.

Below, a portion of a letter the prisoner wrote to Richard Roudier thanking him for his assistance and his support. In the letter, Galinier says that his morale is good, and that he receives medical care, but he is greatly weakened because he has no appetite. He also apologizes for his handwriting and says he cannot go on.

French Bishops Defend Immigration

This short article from Novopress reveals that the Conference of French Bishops is supporting massive immigration in the name of family values:

At the end of August, several bishops mobilized in favor of the handful of Roma gypsies expelled from France. This time, it's the Conference of French Bishops, through the intermediary of its Commission for the Universal Mission of the Church, that is digging the nail in deeper in favor of massive immigration. Presided over by François Garnier, Archbishop of Cambrai (photo below), this commission has just published a communiqué dealing with a bill on immigration, to be debated next Tuesday in the National Assembly.

In this statement, the bishops, in the name of the "right to asylum", declare that "the family is the basic cell of society. For migrants, it plays an essential role in their integration ('insertion'). We must fight any measure that contributes to its weakening."

And yet, the history of immigration in France has demonstrated the degree to which family reunification is responsible for the deterioration of the safety of Frenchmen and for the wound inflicted on their identity.

Note: "Massive immigration" refers not only to gypsies, but above all to Muslims and sub-Saharan Africans. To defend the gypsies is one thing, to defend massive immigration is several orders of magnitude more harmful. The original plan of immigration was to allow only men into France who would fulfill the terms of their work contract and then return home - to their families. Family values were important then, but the family was not in France. The law was changed in 1974 allowing family reunification, thus opening the door to the hordes now permanently encamped in France, brimming with hatred for their host country.

Geert Wilders' Trial - October 4

I received an e-mail a few days ago from SITA, asking me to remind everyone about the upcoming trial of Geert Wilders, due to begin on October 4. Many of you are already familiar with SITA's actions - they want you to send a form letter via snail mail to the authorities - it turns out that The Netherlands has no government at this time, so letters cannot be mailed to politicians. They do not provide another option, but I assume you can mail your letter to whomever you feel would have some influence on the outcome of the trial, such as the press. This time, however, it may be best not to send the letter if you have no one to send it to.

Note: The political situation in The Netherlands is not entirely clear. Balkenende does seem to have limited powers, but it is not likely that a letter about Geert Wilders would matter much to him. Possibly it would matter to members of the Senate or House of Representatives, but I am only speculating.

You can, instead, send a comment to those websites that post articles about Geert Wilders. These comments may be your own, or you can use the ones provided by SITA.

You may also make a donation.

This web page has all the information you need.

Defending Versailles

Since the topic of Contemporary Art seems to be cropping up more and more, here are two images of works by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami on exhibit at the Chateau de Versailles, where, two years ago, Jeff Koons hung his lobster and other oddities.

Murakami, about whom I know nothing, has been called "one of the most famous artists of our time" by Jean-Jacques Aillagon, president of the Château de Versailles and of the organization that manages and makes policies for the "national domain of Versailles".

Note: The fact that I know nothing about him is not necessarly due to his lack of fame but to my lack of knowledge.

Aillagon goes on:

"The confrontation of his fame with that of the Château de Versailles allows us to measure the extent to which, over and above the centuries that separate them, the masterpieces of the past can have a dialogue with those of the present, and those of the present with those of the past."

His reasoning is preposterous.

The French never stop using "dialogue" as a justification for all things, as a cure-all for all conflict, as a weapon for silencing dissent. Do not be critical. Instead, talk talk talk... Proponents of modern music do the same thing. "Listen to this new work and you will surely hear echos of Bach, Mozart, or Schubert... ," they say. As if they must rescue the new works from certain anonymity by "vampirizing" the masters of the past, whose presence haunts them, and whose blood is needed to inject life into the lifeless works being ejected from wombs of artists lacking inspiration. "Inspiration" refers to a divine presence, the breath of the Divinity is in the great artist who has no choice but to serve his art, otherwise he would be betraying his divine mission.

I don't know what kind of dialogue could take place between Murakami's colorful and whimsical, albeit irrelevant structures and the fabulous mirrors, chandeliers, architecture, paintings and HISTORY of Versailles, representing the height of the French monarchy. What are we supposed to see? A connection? A continuity of Art from the 17th to the 21st centuries thanks to Koons or Murakami? A mutual admiration society?

As I said in a comment to the post on the elephant of Avignon, this is all an attempt to glorify the ridiculous and ridicule the sublime. I may be off the mark, but I'm beginning to see it also as an extension of "métissage" in the realm of Art. Versailles is quintessentially French. Bringing in exhibits by Americans and Japanese, among others, only adds to the confusion already created by the grotesque juxtaposition of the sublime and the ridiculous. Not only must Versailles accept inferior works, but these works must be by non-Frenchmen.

There was (and still is) a petition to stop this exhibit that can be viewed until December 12, and there is at least one organization working to stop the trashing of Versailles, which has become a kind of really cool venue for displays of Contemporary Art. French readers can check Versailles Mon Amour. So far there are well over 5000 signatures.




A demonstration was held at Versailles by the opponents of Contemporary Art on the day after the exhibit opened. Le Parisien derided their rally headlining its article "The Anti-Murakamis have their circus". The article said that about fifty demonstrators had shown up with objects such as toilet seats intended as a parody of Contemporary Art.

However, some Le Parisien readers disagree with this figure, and with the whole exhibit:

- Why give this figure of fifty demonstrators? There were more than 200 people at the entrance of the Château and not fifty as indicated in the article. I was there and I can confirm this.

- The politics are very clear: trivialize the Château de Versailles, a property of the reigning BOURBON family that is both private and diplomatic. Very few people understand this aim of Louis XIV. We want to conserve the original character of this monument to the glory of French civilization, the noblest and most beautiful in the world. Its trivialization into a vulgar posh museum for pseudo modern artists is an anti-French policy. I signed the petition, but could not attend since I was 800 km away. That's why there were so few people.

His last statement was ridiculed by another reader. It IS funny - as if his presence would have changed everything. He may mean that lots of people who signed the petition were far from Paris. Or, maybe he does after all mean that his presence would have been equivalent to hundreds.

Riposte Laïque Confronts Islam

The rally in front of the Iranian Embassy took place as scheduled on September 19. There is a long editorial by Cyrano at Riposte Laïque that describes the event, but does not tell how many attended. A few days before the rally, a video circulated on the web of a group of Muslims with a megaphone delivering a rant in the city of Limoges. In the 15-minute video, the Muslims make threats against the enemies of Islam, naming in particular Jews, and Christine Tasin of Résistance Républicaine. Due to its length and the fact that some of it was difficult to hear, I did not do a translation. Furthermore, from what I could see the ranters did not have much of an audience. However, Cyrano gives a more complete account of these events. Here are just some excerpts of his editorial:

(...) Our rally took place only because the police, as they had done on September 4, and we thank them again, prevented the violent counter-demonstrators from breaking up the meeting and attacking the participants. Two weeks ago it was the leftists who did the job for the Islamists. This time, at the end of the rally, we were treated to an attempt at intimidation by a commando of about ten young Muslim radicals, led by an older man. Only the rapid intervention by the riot police prevented the gathering from degenerating. We noticed the look of hatred emanating from the commando, especially the way they stared at the organizers of our rally who were exposed on the podium. There can be no doubt that in another context, if Sharia were to replace the laws of the Republic, they would have attacked us, as the revolutionary guards do in Tehran.

(...) In Limoges, there was on Friday an almost unbelievable spectacle in the downtown area between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. A man, with a megaphone, called for a civil war, a jihad. He cited Christine Tasin, declared that there were between 10 and 15 million Muslims in France, incited them to rise up against the French whom he called "scum", blamed September 11 on the Jews, called the law banning the burka racist, affirmed that he did not recognize our criminal code, incited Muslims to burn it, etc... a speech, heard by several dozen disciples, that must have terrified the peaceful residents of this city. And as if that weren't enough, they had to suffer through a demonstration with slogans demanding the right to wear the scarf and the burka.

Those interested in viewing this video can turn here. Special software is required. I was able to view it on my iphone, not the computer.

Below, a cartoon showing the man with the megaphone. Cyrano points out that the man did not say "they must be killed", but that he would have said it if he had dared. Thanks to Cyrano for this important clarification.

French scum! Impure! Miscreants! Jews, Christians, gays, they must be killed!


Cyrano speaks of the treasurer of the Roubaix mosque:

Like the treasurer of the Roubaix mosque, who condones stoning and who affirmed, in an interview with journalist John-Paul Lepers, that when Muslims become the majority in our country, France will have to submit to Sharia. This agitator announced what our future would be - our future, but above all the future of our children and grandchildren: dhimmis, subjected to Islam, or to death.

Cyrano moves on to Xavier Lemoine, the UMP mayor of Montfermeil. He is often in the news, due to his unusual honesty and vigorous stand against the Islamization of France:

(...) Only Xavier Lemoine, the mayor of Montfermeil - with whom we do not agree on all points - has the courage to get involved. He does not hesitate to cite the incompatibility of this religion with democracy and the Republic, and uses firm language with no concessions.

In an exclusive interview with Riposte Laïque, he details three issues relevant to Islam that cause grave problems for our society: the absence of laïcité in Muslim countries, the absence of equality of the sexes, and freedom of conscience, totally impossible in a political-religious concept like Islam, where it is obligatory for the religious element to fashion the totality of the lives of the citizens. We are impatient to hear this speech emulated by other UMP politicians and by some on the Left as well - why not?

French readers can consult the interview with Lemoine here.

Cyrano mentions the accusation by some journalists that France would be "Pétainiste" if the Roma gypsies are no longer allowed to occupy - illegally - public and private spaces:

But how can this government maintain an apparently merciless policy with the Roma (those who know us know that we are not bleeding hearts on this issue), and yet continue to close its eyes to the Muslim prayers and other signs of occupation of public space? If it were a credible government, then this Friday it would send in the police to all those places where Muslims, in complete violation of our laws, impose their religious practices on the population, and confiscate our streets.

(...) The real fascism, in 2010, is not Marine Le Pen, as the Left claims. It is the Islamist offensive, the rant in Limoges, and the intimidation in Paris. It is there, not elsewhere. It is wherever they have the right to break up meetings they don't like. It is in those rappers, most of whom claim to be Muslims, who hide no longer their hatred for France, and call openly for physical violence against the police and all that the secular Republic they hate represents.

(...) We have absolutely no belief in the efficiency of "moderate Muslims". We have no illusion that they would be able to bring the madmen of Allah to their senses. Nor do we have any illusions about the CFCM (French Council of the Muslim Faith), that works arm in arm with the most radical of Islamists. The more the fanatics increase their threats, the more the so-called moderates present themselves to the French authorities as responsible spokesmen to whom new concessions and new mosques are granted, to appease the agitators. It's so obvious!

Cyrano goes on to repeat that the struggle will continue, that rallies are being planned, and that more information will be forthcoming about these gatherings.

This editorial indicates that some members of Riposte Laïque are capable of more advanced thinking than many members of our own Republican Party, who insist that the only hope lies in the moderate Muslims, and who stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the incompatibility of Islam with American democracy.

Above I linked to the Limoges video at François Desouche. Here is one reader's comment (#664) in answer to another's question "What are you in fact?"

- Good question! I'm a Frenchman who lived through the Algerian War, all the while remaining neutral. I am not a racist, far from it. I am only a against the dangerous deviations hidden behind religions. Now, Islam, which is an anti-religion, is very dangerous for humanity. Even some Algerian friends are now aware of this. There. Have I answered your question? Let me emphasize again that a true Muslim can never be integrated into a true republic. Integration is Utopia. A Muslim worthy of this name must respect the juridical supremacy, fixed and immutable, of his religious principle:

1. The Muslim is superior to the non-Muslim
2. The man is superior to the woman
3. The Muslim is superior to the slave
4. The Muslim must obey the rules prescribed by the Koran and never the laws of the country in which he finds himself.

In short, integration can only take place if the republic is Islamic. Mosques in over-abundance. Time to act like a clown five times a day. Halal markets. Sunday replaced by Friday. Etc...

Red Alerts

A website with the humorous name of Sheik Yer'mami posted this on September 11, and provided the image (left):

The risk of a terrorist attack on French soil has never been higher, the head of the country’s counterespionage agency said in an interview released on Saturday.

Bernard Squarcini told Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper that France’s history as a colonial master in North Africa, its military presence in Afghanistan and a proposal aimed at banning full-covering face veils in public all make the country a prime target for certain radical Islamist groups.

Read more.

H/T: Anonymous reader.

A brief from Le Figaro dated September 18, re-iterates the above information and emphasizes that the level of threat is very serious:

(...) A week ago in the Journal du Dimanche (JDD), the head of the DCRI (similar to our FBI) had affirmed that the threat of an attack on French soil "had never been so great and that all indicators are on red alert". Words that were confirmed on Thursday by Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux who said that the "threat has really become worse these past few days and hours."

In an article in Le Monde, Bernard Squarcini was formal: "All signals are red. France is under a major terrorist threat", citing as proof the kidnapping on Friday of five Frenchmen in northern Niger, and the "corroborating information that has reached us."

With the adoption, on September 14, of a law forbidding the Islamic burka in public areas, the participation by France in Afghanistan, the attack in July by a French commando on an al-Qaida base in AQIM (al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb) that caused seven deaths among the jihadists, there is no want of complaints by Muslim extremists against Paris. After the raid in the Sahara that failed to liberate the hostage Michel Germaneau, AQIM had sworn vengeance in a communiqué: "To the enemy of Allah, Sarkozy, I say: you missed an opportunity and opened the door of horror for yourself and your country."

Note: See Wikipedia (English) for more on AQIM.

French anti-terrorist officials are also concerned about the recent return to France and Europe of young European volunteers who trained and fought in the Pakistani-Afghan zone.

Reuters has this English-language version of the story of the kidnapping.

Dumbo in Avignon

The city? Avignon. In the background, the Palace of the Popes. In the foreground, an inquisitive onlooker. And in the middle, an upside-down elephant standing on its trunk. Of course, what could be more normal in this historic city?

If you happen to visit Avignon before November 7, you too may have the pleasure of seeing this example of contemporary exuberance executed by Miquel Barceló, a Catalan artist with a sense of nonsense.

What's it doing there? Don't you remember Jeff Koons' lobster in Versailles? And Jan Fabre's something-or-other in the Louvre? This is ART. Learn to appreciate it.

A reader is very upset about this elephant in the city of the Popes, but there are indications that the Avignon of today is not the Avignon of yesteryear, when great musicians and actors gave the highest quality, often immortal, performances during the legendary summer Festivals. It has been a while since performers of that caliber have entertained audiences, and with Western values literally standing on their head, maybe this mischievous mammoth is à propos after all. At any rate he is better-looking than some of the other sites you see today in Avignon, if my reader's observations are accurate.

Barcelò is also famous (infamous?) for the ceiling of the UN's palace of nations in Geneva. The photo below gives you an idea, but you must click this link and scroll down for more. It makes the topsy-turvy Dumbo look like Rodin's Thinker, by comparison.

To the Point

The late King of Morocco, Hassan II (reigned from 1961 to 1999), left a record of observations about Islam that the Western countries would do well to heed. In this short video, from a Belgian blog called Anti-Islam, he does not make threats, or issue warnings: he simply tells the truth.

Here is the French text, followed by an English translation:

"A partir du moment où on est musulman, on ne peut pas être laïc. En réalité, tous les chefs d’état du monde musulman, et je ne dis pas arabe, ne sont pas des chefs d’états laïcs, et quand ils disent qu’ils veulent être laïcs, je dis qu’ils ne sont plus musulmans. Car le droit musulman nous colle à la peau, qu’on le veuille ou non, tant sur le plan du droit public que sur le plan du droit privé."

"When you are a Muslim, you cannot be a secularist. In reality, all the heads of State of the Muslim world, and I do not mean Arab world, are not secularist heads of State, and when they say that they wish to be secularist, then I say that they are no longer Muslims. For Muslim law clings to our skin, whether we want it to or not, as much in terms of public law as in private law."

Note: Riposte Laïque and others who still believe in laïcité governing a large and growing Muslim population should take note of what he says. Muslims CANNOT, by nature, be secularists ("laïc").



There is a longer version, in which he speaks of the errors made by the Shah of Iran, posted at YouTube.

The Mayor of Orange Wins the Day

Here's an uplifting article, even if you are not Catholic. It describes the victory of strong-willed traditional Frenchmen over the anti-Christian Establishment politicians. The article comes from Bernard Antony, founder of Chrétienté-Solidarité, and focuses on the determination of Jacques Bompard, mayor of Orange:

Nothing like this had happened for years in the City Council of Orange. Last night's session was agitated. The session was suspended, a request from the Socialists for a secret ballot was issued, verbal exchanges were less contained than usual... The reason? Was this a deliberation on the City's finances? Was it a fundamental decision on the political orientation of the municipality? Not at all.

Jacques Bompard's councilmen had simply decided to re-baptize the little city theater - a 19th century miniature of the Paris Opera House - that had recently been restored. This building was named after Gilbert Ricci, a former Communist mayor, who had massacred the interior architecture. This was the reason why Jacques Bompard found it unsuitable that it bear his name.

Since the theater was located on the very spot where the Sacramentine Sisters of Bollène, the Blessed Martyrs of Orange, were guillotined, it was only natural that the municipality of Orange name the main hall of the restored building after them, and that the other halls be named after those saints who are especially honored in Orange (Saint Martin, Saint Eutrope, Saint Florent and Saint Clément).

The Left blew its stack! Jean Gatel, leader of the opposing Socialist Party and former secretary of State for Defense under François Mitterand invoked by turns his comrade Ricci, the Communist resistance under the Occupation, the principles of separation (of Church and State) of 1905, the "provocation" (sic) that this homage to the Blessed Martyrs constitutes, while during the Revolution, crimes were committed on both sides, notably in Vendée (sic again!)

Jacques Bompard's response was friendly but firm and scathing. The Communist resistance? Yes, after 1941, but before that it was more or less collaboration.

The revolutionary Terror, the anti-Catholic persecutions: here was a good history lesson for the Left and for the ruling UMP party, who joined in the Socialist Party's secularist clamors.

In conclusion, Jacques Bompard said that what he was doing was an act of affirmation of our civilization, at a time when anti-Christian persecutions are multiplying throughout the world, and when Christian martyrs during the past one hundred years have been more numerous than during the whole history of Christianity. The affirmation of our Christian faith being, the mayor reminded them, the best response to political-religious ideologies that flout the principles of our civilization, such as respect for women and her place in society.

This was all it took to turn both left-wing and right-wing opposition to near-hysteria leading to a suspension of the meeting, and then the demand for a secret ballot. The majority refused and voted as one man to accept the mayor's decree.

Chrétienté-Solidarité congratulates Jacques Bompard and his team for their courage and their tenacity.

Note that Sarkozy's UMP party objected to the name-change on grounds of laïcité, And yet, how many mosques have been built over the past 25 years with public money - talk of flouting the principles of French civilization!

While this is a drop in the bucket compared to what must be done, if all the mayors of France were like Jacques Bompard, the country would not be in the dire straits that it is. Bompard, who has been mayor of Orange since 1995, is also General Councillor of the department of Vaucluse. He initiated the political party called the Ligue du Sud (Southern League) in an effort to promote traditional French (particularly southern French) values and culture. His wife is mayor of Bollène (Vaucluse). Below a photo of the mayor from his website.


For a list of the names of martyrs during the French Revolution, go to Hagiographycircle, which also provided the image at top of nuns being led to the guillotine.

Rally at Iranian Embassy, September 19

A communiqué from Résistance Républicaine, the group founded by Christine Tasin of Riposte Laïque, shortly after the June 18 Apéro, has been issued and posted at Bivouac-Id, among other websites:

Come join us at 4 avenue d'Iéna, Paris 16, to say that we do not want France to become an Islamic Republic.

Come defend freedom of expression and laïcité, and to say no to the crime of blasphemy that Islamic countries want to impose on the UN and the entire planet.

And come also to support Christine Tasin who has been the object of death threats.

The rules for the gathering will be the same as those for June 18 and September 4 - no proselytizing, no sign of political partisanship, and only French flags are acceptable.

The tract (above), besides condemning the crime of blasphemy and the murder of men and women in the name of the Koran, indicates another demand being made by Résistance Républicaine that is certain to arouse some discussion, since it implies the reformability of Islam:

Because Sharia must be expurgated of barbaric rules that are incompatible with our laws, our values and with the European Convention on Human Rights.

At the bottom, in small print are the organizations joining in this rally. Included are Bivouac-Id, SITA, Liberty Vox, and Résilience TV, all sources I have used at one time or another. Absent are the Front National and its off-shoots like the MNR, the PDF, the Ligue du Sud, and the Bloc Identitaire.

The "extreme" Right or, if you prefer, the Traditionalist Right or the Nationalist-Sovereigntist-Regionalist Right (it's hard to come up with a satisfactory name) is definitely absent from this one. I don't know for sure why this is so, but it is easy to guess that the left-leaning approach by RR is the cause.

Muslims in Russia Celebrate

Those interested in what's going on in Russia can click Bivouac-Id for a long page of photos and videos of Muslims celebrating the end of Ramadan in the streets of Moscow. I was surprised to see this. Bivouac-Id readers almost unanimously express shock. Some say that the Muslims were paid to do this, that the imams made them do it, and everyone wants to know how Putin could allow it. One reader who knows Russian says that in one of the videos, the Russians filming the scene have no idea what they are filming, and ask why everybody is turned in the same direction (towards Mecca - but they didn't know that!).

Another Bivouac reader says:

- Why the surprise? I've seen the same images of New York, Chicago... in several cities of the United States and the rest of the world. So, it's a strategy that they develop knowingly to show that they occupy a very important place, that from now on they have to be reckoned with, that they need more mosques (even if they are empty)... In brief, THE WHOLE WORLD BELONGS TO THEM (...)

Note: This is what they want us to believe. This is how they get us by the throat - they use skillful PR tactics, photos, outdoor prayers, speeches, dialogue, etc... to make it look as if they are everywhere. In America, there are only about three million Muslims. How many are there in Russia? I think, unfortunately, that France may have one of the largest populations.

The following video is in Russian:

"An Inside Job"

French anti-Islamic websites have been busy keeping up with news from America. Again Bivouac-Id links to an English-language article, this one in the New York Post, about the claim by imam Faiz Khan that "militant Islam" had little, if anything to do with the 9/11 attacks. Khan is a close associate of Feisal Abdul Rauf (photo), the "driving force" behind the GZ mosque. The article begins:

A founding member of an organization run by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the driving force behind the planned mosque near Ground Zero, claims that the 9/11 attacks were an "inside job" and that Muslims have been made scapegoats, The Post has learned.

Faiz Khan -- who has preached at least twice at the former Burlington Coat Factory building, the site of the proposed mosque -- was for years Rauf's partner in the American Society for the Advancement of Muslims, which is dedicated to promoting a better understanding of Islam.

Khan also serves on the advisory board of Muslims for 9/11 Truth and is a founder of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth, known as MUJCA.

On MUJCA's Web site, Khan wrote that "the inescapable fact [is] that 9/11 was an inside job."

"The prime factor for the success of the criminal mission known as 9/11 did not come from the quarter known as 'militant Islam,' although the phenomenon known as 'militant Islamic networks' may have played a partial role, or even a less than partial role -- perhaps the role of patsy and scapegoat," he wrote in documents uncovered by the Investigative Project on Terrorism.

Click the Bivouac-Id link above for a 9-minute English-language video, dating from 2006, of Faiz Khan expounding his theories of good and bad Muslims. I found his speech tedious and his media-oriented gesticulating silly, besides the obvious fact that he was attempting to turn falsehoods into truths and vice versa. He seems to feel it's obvious that 9/11 was an "inside job", and that anyone who doesn't see that is clinging to a falsehood. This man has been chosen by Obama to be a mediator in the Middle East? Of course, what better choice?

The Post article also informs us that:

Khan told a group of 9/11 deniers at a 2006 Chicago summit called "Revealing the Truth/Reclaiming Our Future" that "the most logical explanation" for 9/11 is that the hijackers were working for corporate America and that the heroin trade creates "billions of dollars" that are laundered by "Citicorp and Procter & Gamble."

Note: That type of excuse will go over well with America's liberals who are always on the warpath against corporate America.

I have the distinct feeling that America is done for. That we are hostages in our own country, and that they have us by the throat. Infiltration by Islam was slow at first, but it is gaining ground rapidly. More than ever, we need a patriotic and honest main-stream media, and a Republican Party unafraid to speak the whole truth about Islam and its methods. Will it take more deaths, more horrific attacks, before the truth becomes undeniable. What a demonstration of sublime idiocy by a nation that ranked as one of the greatest in its ability to improve men's lives and to lead in all fields of endeavor. Now we are retards, our blood stream clogged by fear, propaganda, incompetence and taboos.

One hope lies in the conduct of Barack Obama. I wait for the day when he makes a colossal error, one that suddenly sets the country on an irreversible path of righteous self-preservation, rendering it impossible for even the media and liberals of both parties to make excuses for him. His support for the GZ mosque came close to being that error, but it still didn't do the job.

UK Muslims Burn US Flag

There is a video (borrowed from Atlas Shrugs) posted at Bivouac-Id of an anti-American demonstration that took place in London on September 11.

The short article accompanying the video states:

"Burn, burn, USA!"

The American Constitution was burned (because it does not conform to Sharia)

The US flag was set on fire.

"Jesus will destroy the Cross and follow the Koran," read the signs.

In front of the United States Embassy in London, the frenzied group known as Islam4UK, headed by Anjem Choudary, demonstrated and provoked many times over, on the 9th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.




Still on the topic of Islam in the UK, read this article, linked at Bivouac-Id, from the Daily Mail on halal foods becoming standard fare on British Airways.

Note: This September 11 in America was unquestionably much more tense than previous ones. The event was even beginning to fade from the collective consciousness, when news of the GZ mosque reignited feelings tempered by the passage of time. I can only shudder at what awaits us next year.

Bomb Scares in Paris

Readers have been alerting me to the bomb scare at the Eiffel Tower. The French sites I consult regularly did not seem to have very much. Here is an English-language account:

The area under Paris' Eiffel Tower has been opened up to tourists again after an anonymous caller phoned in a bomb threat and police combed through the famous monument looking for suspicious objects.

France's BFM television and other French media reported that police found nothing suspicious at the tower, which is France's most popular tourist monument. Paris police headquarters did not immediately respond to calls seeking information.

Around midnight in Paris, people were walking around and riding bikes under the tower. The tower itself usually closes at 11 p.m.

CBS News correspondent Elaine Cobbe reports that an anonymous caller also phoned in a bomb threat to a commuter train station in central Paris. The St. Michel RER commuter train station near Notre Dame Cathedral was evacuated and police are investigating.

A Paris police spokesman said he had no information about the reports on the Saint-Michel station, which was the target of a terrorist attack in 1995 that killed eight and injured scores of people.

Across town, about 2,000 people were cleared from the 1,063-foot Eiffel Tower on the banks of the Seine River, a spokesman at the police headquarters said. He declined to give his name, citing department policy.

A police spokesperson told Cobbe that there was an anonymous phone call to the Eiffel Tower at around 8:20 p.m. local time.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the threats. But it comes after the head of France's counterespionage agency was quoted this weekend as saying that the risk of a terrorist attack on French soil has never been higher.

Bernard Squarcini told Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper that France's history as a colonial master in North Africa, its military presence in Afghanistan and a bill aimed at banning burqa-style Muslim veils in public all make the country a prime target for certain radical Islamist groups.

Earlier Tuesday, the ban on face-covering Islamic veils passed its final hurdle in parliament, but there was no immediate indication the threats were linked to the proposed ban.
The proposal drew the indignation of the No. 2 of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, who said the drive to ban the veil amounted to discrimination against Muslim women.

Despite the scare at the tower, tourists and curious Parisians continued to mill around the surrounding sidewalks, and traffic continued to circulate nearby. Several police trucks were posted under the tower, and officers stood guard.

The tower is France's most popular monument, and 6.6 million people visited it last year.

Bomb scares are frequent in Paris, and the city has experienced terrorism firsthand. Algerian Islamic insurgents bombed the Saint-Michel station on July 25, 1995, killing eight people and injuring 150.

It was the first attack in a campaign of violence that terrorized Paris subway commuters for a time. Gas cooking canisters loaded with nails, sometimes hidden in garbage cans, were used in many of the bombings.

A French-Canadian website provided the image above. French readers should check out Poste de Veille. It appears to be an excellent site.

Note: I hope to post an article relevant to the red alert under which France has been operating for a while. Many planned attacks have been successfully thwarted by the French anti-terrorism units, but it is only a question of time. The recent report alluded to above has been the topic of several articles at the French websites.

Sarkozy is still adamant about deporting the Roma, and is encountering resistance from Brussels. This is surely a way of deflecting attention away from those that should be deported - the Muslims. Think of what horrors would befall France if he actually did start deporting them en masse and if he did seal the borders. This was a so-called "false alarm" - or was it a harbinger?

French readers, check out this video showing Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1989, in excellent estate, warning about the growth of the immigrant population and the low birthrate among the white Europeans. This is followed by scenes of Belgium under Islam. The video is ten minutes long, and much too long for a translation. But it is very interesting (in a grim way).

Rapper Threatens Christine Tasin

Update: September 28 - The first cartoon below, with the red background, was inadvertently omitted from the original post. Apologies for my oversight. Fortunately, it did not change the basic meaning of the article.

A rapper named Cortex has made death threats against Christine Tasin. The article in Riposte Laïque, written by editorialist Cyrano, is much too long to translate. Here are a few passages, plus some cartoons. It begins with a discussion of a Daily Motion video in which:

(...) this caricature of an Islamized thug, with a hate-filled, severely limited vocabulary says it all. He says he is a Muslim, of the religion of peace and love, but if someone criticizes Islam, that person deserves death! He does not see himself as French, but as a foreigner (he's right about that!). He shows his contempt for emancipated women, for homosexuals, and thumbs his nose repeatedly. He threatens to cut out Christine's tongue with a hatchet.

Note: Daily Motion has since removed the video.

How can this individual, who also threatened Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour, still publish videos, when the song "Peuple de France" was banned?

Note: "Peuple de France" was a song composed by a reader of Riposte Laïque. I am not familiar with it, but it sounds like it was a rousing and patriotic anthem, that the staff of RL liked immediately. It has been removed from YouTube, while the sludge written by Cortex is allowed on Daily Motion.

Remarks like those made by Cortex, besides the serious threats to Christine's safety, reveal, in a raw state, a hatred of the values of our country, and notably our "laïque" principles and our freedom of expression. His words are a call to violence. A call to murder. His words are fascist and racist. They are the types of remarks that incite an entire uncultured generation to take up arms against the citizens of our country. (...)

Cortex illustrates better than any long speech the editorial I wrote entitled: "France is in a state of civil war. It's a fact".

Note: The above statement on "laïque" principles is debatable. Cyrano is reducing this struggle to one of "laïcité" versus barbarity, when it is a struggle between civilization and barbarity. France cannot be reduced to one principle. However, we have to accept Riposte Laïque for what it is - the advocate of laïcité, even when laïcité has proven itself to be useless, or worse - harmful.

The cartoon below shows excerpts from rap songs, primarily from a group called "Lunatic". Since I don't know current French slang, here is the best I can do to translate, starting at the top, moving down the right side, and over to the left:



"I'd like to draw my gun on the chalk faces."

Note: "Chalk face" is their term for "white man".

"Start worrying for your wives, your children, your race; we are here, and we're gonna kick you out".

"One day I smile at you; the next day I kill you".

"Vote to take the pigs to the morgue."

"We'll leave with their money, their blood and their clothes."

"I came to eat and to sh.. here. When I see France, her legs spread apart, I screw her without oil."

"F... the judges, only God can judge me."

Cyrano goes on to say that none of the so-called "anti-racisim" associations have a bad word to say about rappers like Cortex. On behalf of Christine he thanks all those who sent words of encouragement, and he insists that videos such as the one cited above will only strengthen the determination of RL to continue the struggle.

The cartoons below depict Cortex. He says:

"I'm not a racist! I respect religions, especially the religion of peace and love...

"So if a white bitch speaks badly about islam, I'll kill her!"





"French" rappers are exceptionally sadistic towards the country they live in. Since I don't follow the world of rap here in America, I am not able to make a comparison. I know that rap here, as in France, also expresses contempt for women and hatred of whites, and that it encourages and delights in violence. Rap is a brutal expression of the most unleashed primitive impulses of barbaric man. It is unimagineable to me that this sort of thing can be written, produced, and played on the airwaves. All over town, we hear this stuff - blaring out of automobiles, sometimes in restaurants, even at the gym. We hear it on buses despite the earphones they wear, since they turn the volume up so loud, we hear it in the subway stations where groups of thuggish-looking individuals "perform" for our edification. It is more than a public nuisance. It is an attack on civilization itself and constitutes a criminal act. Freedom of speech is not for everyone.

Of course, there is decent rap, where the lyrics do not express violent hatred. There is even "classical" rap, some of it very funny. The poem Façade by British poet Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964) were set to music, rap-style, by British composer William Walton in 1926.

The rap we are dealing with in today's ghettos is the expression of hatred for the countries that have taken in immigrants, fed them, housed them, educated them and provided them with medical services. Sometimes it is really better not to help anybody, unless it is your equal.