Special Flights

Browsing through François Desouche, I found a shortened article about the now-retired French soccer star Lilian Thuram, born Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien in Guadeloupe in 1972. The article centers on Thuram's remarks eight years ago in which he accused Air France of racist hiring practices.

The whole article is from the current issue of Causeur, a paper publication. The page on Thuram was scanned and posted by François Desouche. I was able to translate the page by enlarging it. The author, François Marchand, begins by complaining about having to listen to the rants of retired soccer players. Specifically, some recent complaints by Lilian Thuram regarding utterances made by managers of French soccer teams, and his insistence that the managers be punished. This reminded Marchand of an incident eight years ago:

While traveling by air with the French team, Thuram had elegantly informed the journalists present that there were too many whites in the crew flying the Air France plane (and pointing to them, of course: we are dealing with nobility). He should choose once and for all his position. You cannot be simultaneously a republican and a proponent of the racial superiority of blacks. Or hostile to any ethnic consideration and still in favor of hiring based on skin color.

Someone might object that it is not exactly the same thing, since blacks are subjected to a racist ideology more than whites. But this argument is no longer valid when racism is no longer the dominant ideology, but rather antiracism, which loses all meaning when it is used as a one-way street - "too many blacks" is racist, "too many whites" is antiracist.

The reaction of Jean-Cyril Spinetta to the in-flight outburst of Thuram was, from this point of view, very significant. Whether they are heads of private industry or government leaders, the ruling elite is not republican, royalist, racist, antiracist, communist, fascist, left-wing, or right-wing: they are in step with the times. Concerned about their careers, day and night (which explains why they get so little sleep), they modulate their slightest reactions in terms of what will benefit them or not.

Note: Spinetta, of Corsican and Armenian descent, is CEO of Air France.

What was Spinetta's response to the racist remarks of the former defender of the Juventus Turin soccer team? Very simple: he took action and implemented an ethnic file containing, in violation of the law, a veritable racial topology based on the following notations: "African", "Antillian", "Asian", "Eurasian", "Mediterranean", "Western", for "special flights" (for example the French soccer team). This madness was fortunately rejected by the CFDT labor union that took the case to SOS Racism. The documents have disappeared but in reality, for those "special flights", Air France still selects its crews in accordance with these criteria - let's hope that the company is never be solicited for a convention of rappers or skinheads. You must understand management: what a calamity if Monsieur Thuram's apple juice were served to him by a white!

My conclusion is that if France were to one day be torn apart by ethnic riots, the extreme right will not be the only ones responsible. What historians interested in the devastation of this country will not fail to be amused by is that the riots will have been prepared by personalities as diverse as a former defender of the Barcelona Soccer Team and a big boss of the airline industry. But rest assured, the two of them will continue to give moral lessons from the safe spot on planet Earth to which they will have fled: in first class.

Flash Mobs Run Riot in America

It was another weekend of extreme violence in the United States. Peoria, Chicago and Philadelphia were among the cities targeted by black flash mobs out for whatever they could get. Lawrence Auster has the story, several links, and words of praise for Matt Drudge who does not shy away from racial realities.

In terms of black-on-white violence, I think perhaps the USA is worse off than France. There have been recurring explosions of mayhem for several years, and while it is nothing new here, possibly Obama's presence in the White House is a factor.

The photo is from a suburban Philadelphia paper showing the gang entering a Sears department store. By sheer coincidence we can see the words "French Connection" on the left.

The Search for More Victims

The lawyers representing the woman assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn have reached out to France for help in flushing out other victims. They have engaged the services of Parisian lawyer Thibaut de Montbrial (photo) in their search for French and African women who have been victims of sexual abuse by the former head of the IMF. Apparently several women have already come forward, but there is no definitive decision yet from the courts to admit their testimonies during the trial.

The story appears in English at France 24 and in French at Le Point.

Destroying Christianity, Destroying Man

In a recent article Bernard Antony decries the persecution of Christians throughout the world, and the collaborating role of the Church:

There it is the real Islam: in Pakistan where Asia Bibi endures her long martyrdom, where young Christian girls are kidnapped, married off, and converted by force.

It's the same in Egypt, with the succession of kidnappings, blackmail-induced conversions, and killings.

In Afghanistan, too, where our soldiers are dying, the crime of being a Christian is punished by death. In Iraq, the last of the Christians are being hunted down. In Sudan, we are once again hearing about massacres of Christians perpetrated by the Islamic regime of Khartoum. The truth is that you could fill pages everyday just with news of the advance of Islam by social pressure, intimidation or terror.

Alas, for contrast, you could compare this news
with the endless remarks and acts of complicity and collaboration illustrating the galloping Islamophilia afflicting vast strata of the hierarchy, and many communities and parishes.

Here, it's a bishop who invites an imam to comment on the beauty of the Koran for children in catechism class. There, within the walls of veritable sacred places, they sell literature that explains the Koran and how to learn it by heart.

And the saddest thing is that when we observe some fear of the Islamic reality, it is only because the Islamic community has no leniency for homosexual propaganda and exhibitionism as it is practiced at the Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Catholic High School in Rennes, i.e., on the pretext of the fight against homophobia. The school administration, having displayed photos of "handsome guys" in pink briefs, worry then about the reactions of Muslim parents and pupils.

In this way, a whole part of the Catholic social body has evolved, and, like our poor people, it oscillates between the pink of "gay pride" and the green of Islam.

Poor France! Poor Church!

The photo above is from a website called Persecution Blog.

Did you notice that Bernard Antony disclosed the fact that Muslim children attend Catholic Schools? Imagine a Catholic School being forced to comply with anti-Christian policies of the government and having, at the same time, to appease Muslim youngsters and their parents.

According to its website, Jean-Baptiste de la Salle is a government-subsidized school - "sous contrat" (under contract) - therefore obligated to follow government policies. There is also a page on the teaching of "gender" which has recently been added to the list of required subjects in French high schools. Note that they retained the English word "gender". Did they think it sounded more "cool", or was it because the whole concept of gender bending, gender politics, etc… had its origin in the American feminist movement, and to be authentic the English word was necessary? Just as they say "gangster", a word with no exact equivalent in French.

The article explains that since 2009 an exchange program for French, German and Austrian pupils focused on the theme of man-woman relationships. Some of the topics studied were: gender in society, gender in the generations and the assigning of tasks within a couple, gender in politics, gender in the economy, gender in education and fashion, gender in the world and gender in love. In all seriousness, the article then says:

"These themes often engendered lively discussions between the three nationalities!" (my emphasis)

We also learn that at each class session, the pupils:

"created videos, texts, photo displays, and slide shows of high quality. All of them now hope to perfect their English, and some intend to continue their studies abroad. A real European opening!"

Here is more on the new gender studies in French high schools.

According to Yves Daoudal, writing in his weekly newsletter #128 (available through subscription), this new course of study is part of the "science curriculum":

In the chapters entitled "Becoming a man or a woman" and "Living your sexuality," which follow the chapter "Taking charge of your sex life conjointly and responsibly", (it becomes evident that) after teaching the need for contraception and for the right to an abortion, they will teach pupils that each individual is to choose his sexual orientation (independent of his sexual identity) in order to live his sexuality fully (including the entire gamut of Lesbian-Gay-Bi-Trans, and even including perhaps "heterosexual", as if one were saying heterogenous or heteroclitic). This is, in truth, the outcome of the culture of death: the very negation of the human being, of man and woman.

He concludes with the uselessness of even trying to use "laïcité" as a solution to the problem:

It is totally useless, as well, to invoke "laïcité" or neutrality as a basis for saying that schools must not teach theories or ideologies: the Republic's schools are there for that very reason. And the first ideology taught in school and embraced by the schools is "laïcité", the theory according to which you can teach all things without mentioning the creator of all things.

The ideology of gender is the outcome of the ideology of Church/State separation. You begin by placing the Creator in parentheses, you end up placing in parentheses the biological identity of the creature, in order to further the concept of gender: the sexual role that is socially constructed and deconstructed. And Man is annihilated.

Note: France is not alone. We are ahead of them. Read this short article from Lawrence Auster.


Graphic from Serendip.

Final note: Some of you may be interested in this video about Christian martyrs worldwide. YouTube has many such videos.

Geert Wilders Acquitted

This message was in my mailbox this morning:

This morning the Court of Amsterdam has acquitted Geert Wilders of all charges.

“I am delighted with this ruling,” says Geert Wilders. “It is a victory, not only for me but for all the Dutch people. Today is a victory for freedom of speech. The Dutch are still allowed to speak critically about Islam, and resistance against Islamisation is not a crime. I have spoken, I speak and I shall continue to speak.”

"You Will Not Resist Demographic Pressures..."

Here is an indication of what France will miss out on now that Dominique Strauss-Kahn is in "prison" in Tribeca, New York City, USA. Were he in a position to run for president, he would be a fervent advocate for Turkey and for immigration. This round-table discussion was posted at Occidentalis on June 11, 2004. Occidentalis no longer publishes, but fortunately the website is still accessible as a resource (although you may have trouble with the link.)

In the interview, various political topics are discussed by Charles Pasqua, who would become Senator from Hauts-de-Seine, François Bayrou, who would run as a "centrist" in the 2007 presidential election, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, at the time Socialist deputy from Val-d'Oise, a large suburb north of Paris, where he also served as mayor of Sarcelles. The moderator was Arlette Chabot. Also present were Jean-Marie Le Pen and Philippe de Villiers:

It's the eve of the 2004 European elections. Pasqua and Bayrou express their concern over the European Constitution that would soon be adopted on June 18, and the fact that so few Frenchmen know anything about how the EU operates. DSK intervenes:

DSK - I fully understand all the arguments from those who fear the entry of Turkey in Europe. But I feel it makes no sense to look only at the past or at geography. What you have to keep in mind is the projection that we have of what Europe will be in thirty, forty or fifty years. When you wonder about this, you can very well see that in the world there will be a great American empire in the North with Canada, the United States and perhaps Mexico. There will probably be a great Chinese empire, and considering the pace at which China is developing today, in thirty or forty years it will have reached the standard of living that we have. And there will be a great Indian empire. Will there be a great European empire? We all hope so because we must carry on the European values. What I am certain about is that if there is a great European empire, at that time, it must not stop at the borders that are ours today. Imagine a teacher, in forty years, with pupils in front of him, and a big map in the middle, with a red pen he will say, there, that is the great American empire and he'll make a big circle, then he'll say, that is the great Chinese empire and he'll make a big circle, if he wants to be able… if we want him to be able to say, that is the great European empire, then he will have to make a big circle and there won't be a pen fine enough to pass through the straits of Gibraltar or in the Bosphorus. What I'm trying to say is that in forty or fifty years, if Europe exists, and I think everybody here wants it to… then we will have to have reconstituted the Europe of the Mediterranean. That is the root of our civilization.

Arlette Chabot - So we must not close our doors to Turkey if it changes.

DSK - Turkey still has a way to go to meet the criteria for admission. But the future of Europe, for me, is indeed the Europe of the Mediterranean.

François Bayrou - Hence, the Maghreb too...

DSK - Hence, Morocco no doubt, and other countries…

François Bayrou - Hence, the Maghreb too…

DSK - Absolutely. Absolutely. You will not be able to resist…

François Bayrou - How far do we go?

DSK - I'm going to tell you. I think that from the icebergs in the Arctic to the sands of the Sahara, there is a space which is that of European and Mediterranean responsibility. And you will not resist demographic pressures, you will not resist what we want to construct together, by placing barriers, as Monsieur Le Pen was saying a while ago, or was it Monsieur Villiers, I don't remember, Monsieur Villiers is usually more articulate… it's that we will not resist if we are not capable of assuming our historic responsibility.

Note: The above statement is difficult to understand. At first he says that no one will be able to resist the demographic pressure, even if barriers are built. Then he says (if I understand correctly) that the only way to resist is for Europeans to take their "historic" responsibility. He seems to be saying that there is no way to keep the invaders out, so Europeans have to accept them in a manner that would make up for past crimes. He does not say it that strongly, but I don't know what else he could mean by "historic responsibility."

At this point the article at Occidentalis ends, but there is more of the discussion posted at Maitre Derville.

François Bayrou - Here is a very important difference, you can mark this point. It's a very important difference. There are those who feel that Europe will be an almost indefinite extension and that it will go from the icebergs of the Arctic to Turkey, to the Maghreb. And there are those who feel…"

DSK - That the Arctic is enough.

François Bayrou - That's right. There are those who believe that Europe will not be strong unless it is homogenous, unless it has the capacity to defend the values of civilization that made it, that built it. Europe is an historic tradition, a thousand years old, it is more ancient than nations. The nations came later…"

DSK - Before it was a thousand years old, Monsieur Bayrou, the Roman Empire was on all the shores of the Mediterranean. Saint Augustine was the bishop of Hippo, which is today in Algeria. What is this limitation that you are setting?

Note: It is possible that DSK was baiting Bayrou to admit to an aversion for Islam. It is true that the Roman Empire was in North Africa, but it was the Christianized Roman Empire. Bayrou claims to be a practicing Catholic.

François Bayrou - I believe that the more we extend Europe, this is a real difference, the more we extend Europe, the less it will be capable of asserting itself because it will have fewer common values to defend. And if, in the final analysis, the Americans are gleefully rubbing their hands, they are the most ardent propagandists for Turkey in the EU because they know very well that that will prevent Europe from existing as an equal by their side, making decisions that affect the planet. This is a real difference, not a fear.

DSK - The fear that you mentioned a while back of a great Muslim country in Europe is founded on something else and you know it. The…

Note: Since I only have excerpts of the discussion, I don't know what DSK is referring to here. What is Bayrou's fear founded on? Possibly the loss of national identity? Or civil war? If anyone has an idea or knows where more excerpts of this discussion can be found, please let me know.

François Bayrou - It is not a fear. We are 450 million inhabitants.

DSK - It's a fear. It's a fear…

François Bayrou - The United States are barely 250 million.

DSK - It's a fear. What we have to do is…

François Bayrou - 450 million and 250 million.

Arlette Chabot - I really would like to…

François Bayrou - Turkey is not our history and you know it

DSK - Of course it is.

François Bayrou - How can you maintain before the cameras that Turkey is our history? I have much respect for the Turks, but the least one can say is that it is not our history. You have only to ask Constantinople.

Below, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and François Bayrou.

Moscow Invaded

In the song I just posted, a man regrets not having really known his father. Someday, Frenchmen may regret not having really known France. Will the same be true of Russians? Maxime Lépante, of Riposte Laïque, has put together this video of scenes of Muslims praying in the streets of Moscow. Maxime Lépante is also the author of several videos of Muslims praying in the streets of Paris. But in sheer numbers, the prayers in Moscow far outpace the Parisian counterparts.

I do not have time right now to translate the text, but the basic meaning should be clear to anyone, even if you don't know French.

Note: Many people still write to me with questions about the book La Mosquée de Notre-Dame, by the Russian author Elena Chudinova. When will it be published in English, they ask. And I have to tell them I don't know. There is one chapter translated into English posted at Atlas Shrugs. That is all I know for now.

For Father's Day

It's still Father's Day, and though I usually don't post about this holiday, I found this song, sung by Daniel Guichard, who is also the composer, about the awakening - too late - of a man towards his father. The title is Mon Vieux which translates as "my old man", not a compliment, not quite an insult either, but indicating dislike or indifference. Until you reach the end of the song…



In his threadbare overcoat
Summer and winter
He went off in the chilly morning
My old man

Sunday came only once a week
The other days he was earning
our bread, as best he could
My old man

In summer we went to the seashore
You see, it wasn't poverty
But it wasn't paradise either
Oh well, so what

In his threadbare overcoat
For years he took the same
suburban bus
My old man

Evenings, home from his job
He sat without saying a word
He was the silent type
My old man

Sundays were dull
Nobody came to visit
He wasn't unhappy about that
My old man

In his threadbare overcoat
On payday, when he came home,
We could hear him complain a little
My old man

We had heard it all before
The bourgeois, the boss
The Left, the Right, even God
With my old man

We didn't have television
I had to watch it somewhere else
For a few hours - escape!
You know, it's silly.

To think that I spent years
By his side, without looking at him
We barely opened our eyes
The two of us.

What would it have cost me
To take a little walk with him?
It would have made him happy perhaps
My old man.

But when you are just fifteen
Your heart is not big enough
To house all of those things
Do you understand?

Now he is far from here
And when I think about it all, I say to myself
"I would love him to be at my side"
PAPA...

Renaming a Public Square

The following item appears at the English-language website Islam Versus Europe:

A council in the South of France has announced that it is planning to rename a square after Eyüp Sultan, a so-called companion of the so-called prophet. The con man prophet's companion, who has no obvious connection to France, died in the Muslim attack on Constantinople in 670. Currently the square is named after Pierre Loti (photo above), the 19th century French writer, who was passionately interested in things oriental.

The initiative seems to have come from the councillor Lionel Serik, a "French" person who recently discovered that he had Turkish roots:

Having a foreign surname, which has always aroused people’s curiosity, French journalist Serik is in pursuit of his roots, which he has traced back to Turkey. “I was always looking in the Yellow Pages when I was in Montreal, New York, Paris, Singapore, Riyadh and Dubai and could never find a Serik,” said Serik during a recent interview in İstanbul, where he was visiting as a guest of the İstanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency.

After investigating further, Serik discovered that his ancestors were from one of the nomadic communities in Turkey. “Seriks are Yörüks,” says Serik. “They are a nomadic people, which definitely suits me very well. I’ve been living all over the world. (…)

“I spent a week here in İstanbul, and then I went to Antalya last Friday,” says Serik. “I was honored and very warmly welcomed by Ahmet Ümit, the district governor of Serik. On Saturday we went to Serik. When we first arrived in Serik, I started to see the road signs, and it was pretty much like a child looking forward to opening his Christmas presents. It was like I was in Wonderland.”

The next day he was hosted by Mehmet Habalı, the mayor of Serik, and he was very impressed by the way he was treated, both by the authorities and the local people. “He was very nice to me, like everybody else was,” says Serik. “I had the most beautiful experience of my life; I cried on Sunday night.” A special celebration was organized in the town, and a lamb was sacrificed in honor of Serik. “To my biggest surprise, they sacrificed a lamb before my eyes, which I couldn’t watch,” he says, “and then we ate the poor lamb.” This whole experience strengthened Serik’s ties with Turkey, “I had my Turkish blood and now my heart is Turkish, too.”

So now France ceases to honour one of its great writers so this nobody can indulge his personal ancestor nostalgia, and will instead honour an Arab savage who died attacking the capital of Christendom?

The longer article from which the above passages come was posted at the Turkish site Today's Zaman in January of 2010. Here are a few more excerpts. The tale becomes complicated, and I hope you can follow it. Following his trip to the town of Serik he said:

“I’m going back [to France] 200 times more satisfied than I anticipated because all these people have made me feel at home, part of their family, like a brother,” says Serik after his experience in Antalya. “It has been so touching, so emotional for me, that I feel more Turkish than ever. These two days that I’ve spent in Serik were more rewarding for me than any document I was able to find.”

According to historical records, in the 18th or 19th century some people were sent from Serik to Algeria, either in exile or on official business or to fight against the French. “And that coincides with the fact that my great-grandfather Muhammed bin Ali was in Algeria and that my grandfather was born there. Then they moved to Belgium,” says Serik. However, the story becomes murky at that point. “I don’t know when or why,” he says. (…)


And so Serik (left), who is a municipal councilor from Saint-Pierre d'Oléron, the main city on the island of Oléron where he was born, is certainly predisposed to a certain prejudice against the French and in favor of the Turks. His ancestors in Algeria may have fought against the French. Moreover, he may find himself in opposition to the many Frenchmen opposed to Turkey's membership in the European Union.

His connection to Pierre Loti is complex. First, Loti was born in Rochefort, not far from Saint-Pierre d'Oléron. A passionate lover of Turkey, Loti had part of his house decorated like a mosque. But most importantly, he did not believe in the Armenian genocide. And at his request he was buried in Saint-Pierre d'Oléron. Hence, Serik grew up immersed in tales by and about Loti. The public square to be named after Eyüp Sultan is in Saint-Pierre d'Oléron. The decision to do this was apparently made in some back room, according Christophe Sueur, another city councilor, of an opposition right-wing party. The following report is from Sud Ouest:

After the announcement in March of a "special visit" by the Turkish delegation, Christophe Sueur, reacted: "I have learned that a delegation is going to inaugurate a new square and that even a statue will be erected there. Such an inauguration cannot, logically, be done without the council's knowledge and municipal deliberation. Now there has been no deliberation on this matter, not even during the last council meeting on May 19. It seems that the decision was made when Lionel Serik returned from Turkey. But Serik went to Turkey on behalf of the city of Rochefort, not Saint-Pierre d'Oléron.

And there is another problem: "By what right are they going to re-baptize Pierre-Loti Square that is next to the ground where Loti is buried? The name of Pierre Loti is much closer to the history and local traditions than that of Eyup Sultan, one of the prophet's companions, who was killed during the siege of Constantinople in 670." (…)

Below, Christophe Sueur beside the statue of Pierre Loti.


As far as I know, this is where it stands. Unless the councilors can stop it or the population rebels. As for Pierre Loti, friend of Turkey and indifferent to Armenians, here is one quote from a letter he wrote in December 1920 to the French Foreign Minister:

"As for the 'Armenian massacres', I feel I have said, with many testimonies and proof to back me up, just about all there is to say: reciprocal killing, insane exaggeration in the complaints of the Armenians who, for centuries, so basely cheated their neighbors the Turks, and who, indefatigable slanderers, never cease to use their title as Christians to instigate Western fanaticism against Turkey."

In another article, also from December 1920, Loti lashes out at the Greeks, but then speaks of "the thousands of lies of the Armenians":

"As far as these dear Armenian martyrs are concerned, I didn't know that during the war they had massacred two thirds of the non-Armenian population of cities occupied by the Russians, or 300,000 souls at least, according to the testimony of the men of the Caucuses. The poor Turks, had been, for a long time, crying out to Europe, asking that at least a committee of inquiry be sent to the region. But Europe had no intention to comply, once it accepted without question the stupid order from England - from Lloyd George especially - namely that anything from the Muslims, whoever they were, was not worth worrying about."

Not surprising, then, that Serik felt an affinity for Loti even before he knew he was of Turkish origin. Afterwards, all the more reason… But then, should he not honor Loti by leaving the square named after him? Or would Loti be glad to relinquish his own name, in favor of Eyup Sultan?

Note: I was not able to determine the political affiliation of Lionel Serik, but I assume he is a Socialist. The website of the city of Saint-Pierre d'Oléron lists the names of the city councilors, but not their party. I did find that Christophe Sueur, the councilor who opposes the renaming, belongs to the Diverse Right - a coalition of right-wing groups.

Thanks to the reader who sent this tip.

RFK, Jr. Calls Wilders a "Racist"

"Not surprising" is my reaction to the news that RFK, Jr. has labeled Geert Wilders a "racist". I received the following in my mail box from Wilders' Party for Freedom:

Robert F Kennedy Jr., the son of American presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, who was murdered in 1968, is currently in the Netherlands. He gave an interview to the left-wing television channel NCRV in which he said that Geert Wilders is a racist.

Interviewer: You call him [Wilders] a racist?

Kennedy: Yeah of course.

Interviewer: But why?

Kennedy: Because he is a fearmonger. And it struck me, it has occurred to me many times that every nation, like every individual, has a darker side and a lighter side. The easiest thing for a politician like Mr. Wilders to do is to appeal to our self interest, to our greed, to our xenophobia, to our bigotry, to the smallness inside all of us, to our hatred, and to our selfishness. And that it is much more difficult to do what my father did, which was to convince people to step outside of their narrow self-interest and make sacrifices on behalf of our entire community and see ourselves as part of the larger community.

In a reaction to the interview Mr Wilders said; “This is clearly utter nonsense and malicious. To me, racism is just as despicable as to anyone else with common sense. Kennedy Jr. is either badly informed or he does not know what he is saying. That is a pity.”

If you read Dutch, click here, or here.

Meeting on the Champs-Elysées

The contributors to Riposte Laïque will be gathering again this June 18, exactly one year after their first "Apéro" that signaled a major rupture of a part of the Left with its mainstream parent. The "Apéro", short for "apéritif", was supposed to be an outdoor picnic of wine and sausage in the Barbès section of Paris, where every Friday afternoon outdoor prayers for Muslims block the street and stop all regular traffic. The prefect ordered them not to drink wine since it was offensive to Muslims, and to move their picnic elsewhere, so they went to the Champs-Elysées instead and drank grape juice. About eight hundred people turned out, a number large enough for the event to be considered a success.

This Saturday, they will again make their way to the Champs-Elysées, to sing patriotic songs, to reaffirm republican values, and to denounce the loss of national identity through Islamization and immigration. Oskar Freysinger is expected to attend, and already there have been calls to ban the rally because of the presence of "racist" Freysinger.

Rain is expected, so take your umbrella if you happen to be in Paris, and have an inclination to attend. According to my iPhone the weather will be partly sunny and partly wet. Not too bad, considering we have had frequent drenching rainfall and thunderstorms on the East Coast for several weeks.

Riposte Laïque is supported in its efforts by Valeurs Actuelles, a conservative publication, that notes the importance of the evolution of certain members of the Left toward a more realistic view of the current crisis in France.

One of the patriotic songs they may sing Saturday is Chevaliers de la Table Ronde. Here it is sung by Les Quatre Barbus (The Four Bearded Ones), a famous French vocal group of the first half of the 20th century, known for traditional songs, drinking songs, songs with racy lyrics that they recorded unexpurgated. They retired from singing in 1969.



Knights of the Round Table
Let's drink to see if the wine is good.

I'll drink five or six bottles
With a woman on my lap.

If I die, I want to be buried
In a cellar where there is good wine.

My two feet against the wall
And my head under the spigot.

On my grave I want them to write
"Here lies the king of drinkers."

A Mayor Calls for the Army

The department of France best known to the world at large is no longer Finistère, in Brittany, or Savoie, in the Alps, or Vendée, with its special history, but the notorious Seine-Saint-Denis, number 93, northeast of Paris. Catapulted to fame in 2005 as rioting went on for weeks, an area of immigrant ghettos, crime, gangs with stockpiles of war weapons, drug dealing, murders, rapes, and general degradation, it has once again made headlines in France. This time, the town of Sevran has become a city under siege. This report, dated June 2, from Novopress summarizes:

In the June 2 edition of Le Parisien, an inquiry looks into the reports of "serious repeated incidents" in the city of Sevran (Seine-Saint-Denis). More precisely, for several weeks, the pupils at the Montaigne School, in the heart of the multi-ethnic neighborhood of Montceleux, are often deprived of their recreation period. The reason? They have to stay away from gunshots fired nearby. The area is rotted away from drug trafficking by immigrant dealers of non-European origin.

Questioned by Carole Sterlé, journalist for Le Parisien, the mayor of the city, Stéphane Gatignon, sees only one possible solution to these crimes involving weapons of war: he wants help from the military, more than just a police helicopter crisscrossing the sky above Sevran.

"We must have forces of intervention, the blue berets, like those sent abroad to prevent warring parties from killing each other," demands the mayor.

For one year now, this has also been what the Bloc Identitaire has been demanding, through our campaign: "It is in our suburbs that they are needed. Let's demand the return of our soldiers from Afghanistan" (see poster at top). Stéphane Gatignon, a member of the Green Party for the moment, could find himself joining the identitarian political movement…

Note: A reminder that Novopress is the news service of the Bloc Identitaire.

An earlier report, dated May 17, spoke of the "umpteenth explosion of violence":

Monday night (May 16) around 10:30, two men, 26 and 38, were targeted by two unidentified persons on Jan-Palach Drive. Armed with handguns, the two assailants shot twice at the victims before escaping on a powerful motorbike. (…)

"More gun violence in Sevran. This recurrent problem is becoming more and more troublesome for the inhabitants of this city," declared a regional secretary of the police union UNSA.

The article closes with a mention of the use of weapons of war as well as semi-automatic pistols.

Another article dated March 21 reports that the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis, Christian Lambert, was implementing greater security measures in the form of helicopters, motorcycle police, and increased identity checks in apartment lobbies.

A resident florist of Sevran spoke to Le Parisien. The article is dated June 14. He begins by giving the impression that the city is just fine, but as he speaks a different picture emerges:

"This is not representative of the city. Unless you know Sevran you might imagine that you need a bullet-proof vest. I have traveled, to Guadeloupe, for example, and when I say I live in Sevran, they say: "Isn't that too tough?" They think we are heros. That makes me angry. I deliver flowers everywhere, in all neighborhoods, and in other cities of Ile-de-France. And I see the same thing there as here - young people in apartment lobbies, drugs… I find that Sevran is even less degraded than the other cities. (…) Where will I be in ten years? Here! I have thought about leaving, but I did some market research that convinced me to stay. Sevran has intrinsic qualities that will prevent it from ever becoming Harlem: the countryside is twenty minutes from Paris, we are also ten minutes from Roissy, an enormous source of employment, and soon there will be Greater Paris."

Note: "Greater Paris" is Sarkozy's plan for enlarging the boundaries of the capital to include most of the suburbs and extending even as far as the Atlantic Ocean! Whether he, or his successor, goes through with this remains to be seen, but the first sketches show a futuristic, purely functional design devoid of beauty and individuality. The antithesis of Paris.

Below, a police guard in Sevran.

An Historic Meeting

Most of you are probably aware by now that Oskar Freysinger and Geert Wilders met in The Hague. You can view their ten-minute video several places. Here is the link to YouTube.

The first three minutes and twenty seconds are in French. Freysinger explains that the two men were supposed to meet in Switzerland, but there was a peaceful protest by Muslim activists and the Swiss President complied with their demands. So, as he says of Wilders, "since he could not go to the mountain, the mountain has come to him." Here is a rough idea of what he said:

Canceling the meeting violated the Swiss principle of freedom of speech. But it also proves that nothing can prevent us from meeting and sharing our views on the liberticide doctrine of Islam. What our authorities are saying more and more can be summarized in this phrase: "Keep your mouth shut. Everybody will be better off." Threats and violence triumph, the rule of law can no longer defend basic principles, the situation looks more and more like the Weimar Republic. Must History repeat itself? Because of the cowardice and hypocrisy of our leaders are we helping to create a new totalitarianism?

If I agreed to appear beside this man who is being prosecuted for the crime of telling the truth and condemned to death by the Muslims who sully him, it is to correct the blurred image of him spread by the media. I have never heard him speak against Muslims as men, but against the dogma of which Muslims themselves are the prime victims. He is concerned about the Netherlands being taken hostage by an ideology that, little by little, undermines the Enlightenment and the rule of law. And he condemns acts of violence against women, Jews, homosexuals and Muslims who have converted to another religion or who choose to remain secular. His concerns are also mine. Not to respond to these wayward acts is to make a show of cowardice and hypocrisy and to invite barbarity once again to settle in Europe.

He closes with a condemnation of the EU whose days, he feels are numbered:

To replace this outdated bureaucratic anti-democratic system, I propose a Europe composed of free and sovereign nations built from the foundations by responsible citizens. In this type of Europe, the citizens are directly involved in the management of the republic and in democracy as well.

The English part of the video begins at 3'20".

When France Was True to Herself

Here's a short post from Islamisation. The three stirring videos are part of a series entitled "Grands Sites de Midi-Pyrénées", referring to a list of exceptional sites that have been singled out as being of great importance in the region of Midi-Pyrénées. This region, one of the largest in France, is composed of eight departments, with the city of Toulouse as its prefecture. The object of the post is to remind us of what would be lost if Islam becomes predominant in France. The author, Joachim Véliocas, describes what happens to Christian edifices in Muslim lands:

For in the land of Islam, sharia forbids Christians to build or even to restore a church that has fallen into ruin. The famous government statutes of the Sunni judge El-Mawerdi (972-1058) states on page 308, "they cannot erect new synagogues or churches in Islamic lands. Should this happen they will be demolished to their detriment…"

"We will not build in our cities or in their surroundings any monasteries, churches, hermitages or monks' cells. We will not repair, day or night, that which has fallen into ruin or that which is located in a Muslim neighborhood."

The above excerpt is from the Pact of Caliph Omar, a reference to the code of the Dhimma. Omar's teachings are followed by the Sunnis. This is not a marginal position: Christian Turks, Algerians, Egyptians, etc… are subjected to the law of the Dhimma.

Below, a two-minute video honoring Saint-Just de Valcabrère and the town of St-Bertrand-de-Comminges. The projected text reads:

Formerly a prosperous Roman city, its vestiges tell a great epic. Saint-Just de Valcabrère glorifies romanesque art. Saint-Bertrand goes even further in the era of cathedrals. And Art weaves a new history.



The second video honors the city of Auch, the historic capital of the ancient province of Gascogne.:

A generous gourmand nature, a legendary hero, D'Artagnan, a majestic and secret city that unites sacred art with audaciousness. Gascon in its heart.



The third video takes us to the vertiginous heights of Rocamadour:



It's painful to imagine what terrible fate could befall these exquisite monuments built to the glory of God by a people at ease with their identity and proud of their culture.

The photo at the top is from Wikipedia, uploaded on June 02, 2010 by Père Igor. It shows Saint-Just de Valbacrère with Saint-Bertrand in the background. The marriage of land and architecture is perfect. Imagine growing up with this landscape greeting you every day on your way to school.

From City-State to No-State

If you are interested in the various political, philosophical and religious systems of thought that have been at war with each other, or in troubled co-existence with each other, in the Western world since the Renaissance, you may enjoy reading this review by Daniel DiSalvo of two books by French philosopher Pierre Manent, one of the rare Frenchmen to shun both extreme Left and extreme Right positions. The review focuses on Manent's discussion of four types of "political forms": the ancient city, the empire, the Church and the nation-state, and the relative failure of each. On Manent's rejection of the EU "constitution", DiSalvo notes:

Interestingly, Manent publicly opposed the EU “constitution,” which went down to defeat in a 2005 referendum in France. He rejects the EU’s aspiration to be something of a universal humanitarian empire on the grounds that it eliminates the possibility for a genuine politics. In the EU project, Manent hears the siren song of a “religion of humanity” that flees politics into hollow notions of human self-deification.

The whole article appears at the City Journal. Thanks to the reader who sent it.

In 2007 I posted a translation of an interview with Manent, conducted by Elisabeth Lévy, in which he described the consequences of the "denationalization" of Europe.

French readers can consult this page for another, more recent interview with Pierre Manent centering on the fate of Europe. Here is the explanation he gives for political correctness:

The role of "political correctness" can be explained by a divorce between action and words. We no longer expect a word to be linked to a possible action, so the word is taken seriously as if it were itself an action. If this word displeases someone, it is considered as a terrible action. Until now, freedom consisted in measuring words by the yardstick of visible actions. "Political correctness" consists in measuring words by the yardstick of invisible actions.

Paris Welcomes Tunisians

As we all know, North Africans, in particular Tunisians, have been flooding into Europe, with their final destination being France. The island of Lampedusa has been one of their stopping-off places before the final lap of their journey to Paris, where it turns out, the municipality and its mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, are rolling out the public assistance carpet. This communiqué from Marie-Christine Arnautu (left), vice-president in charge of social affairs of the Front National, explains:

The Paris City Council has just implemented a double agreement between the department (Ile-de-France) and two associations. The agreement outlines measures to provide public assistance that would cover the expenses resulting from the massive number of Tunisians arriving in Paris.

As an intervention agent for needy Tunisians in northeastern Paris, the association France Terre d'Asile (France, land of asylum) is reserving 130 lodgings in hotels, with individual health, social and legal benefits. The association is seeking any solution respectful of rights and human dignity to help the Tunisians out of their difficulties. The provisional cost of the budget for Parisian taxpayers: 92,000 euros for one year!

Another example of its generosity, the City Council signed another agreement with the association Aurore to finance a temporary emergency residence on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré for 140 Tunisians in flight, not from Tunisia, but from an area "close to Libya". The estimated cost to taxpayers: 90,000 euros for one month! Then we learn with amazement about expenses of 16,500 euros for food, 1500 for gas and various pieces of equipment, 5000 for cleaning services… among others.

Not content with financing illegal immigration to Paris, the department of Ile-de-France is feeling proud of itself and intends to demand that the associations acknowledge the department's level of commitment, in order to gain some favorable publicity.

The total increase in emergency aid to Tunisian migrants rises thus from 210,000 to 345,000 euros. Consider too the fact that Bertrand Delanoë is insisting on the application of a Franco-Tunisian agreement signed in 2008 allowing for the arrival on French soil of 9000 Tunisians per year who would be granted visas.

The Front National would like to underscore the swiftness with which the Paris City Hall is housing illegal Tunisian immigrants, while nearly 10,000 homeless people are sleeping and dying on the sidewalks of the capital and hundreds of French families are on waiting lists for public housing, barely able to meet their families' needs.

At a time when the residents of Ile-de-France are subjected on a daily basis to growing difficulties (crime, housing and energy costs), the Front National is indignant at the brazenness with which the authorities trample on the law and swindle our compatriots to the benefit of populations arriving illegally.

In view of this preference for foreigners, as clearly defined by the Paris City Council, Marie-Christine Arnautu calls on all of our compatriots to join Marine Le Pen and the Front National, in their fight for national preference, in order to bring to an end the growing poverty and social insecurity of our compatriots.

The photo below of a boatload of Tunisians arriving at Lampedusa is from FNCV. (BTW, this is a wonderful website for French readers - all the news of the military, the events and tragedies in Afghanistan, and more. The home page also provides a recipe for cucumbers with a salty reference to DSK and a refusal to believe in the guilt of the Spanish cucumber as the cause of the E-coli epidemic.)

The Mysterious Ex-Minister

The French are talking a lot about ethics these days. The Parliament passed a new law on bioethics which I hope to discuss soon. But ethics in the political workplace, in particular sexual behavior in the political workplace, and the new awareness of the general immorality and self-protectiveness of the French government, are engendering much reflection and discussion. First, a brief summary of the "Luc Ferry affair", from Bruno Gollnisch, vice-president of the Front National:

Monday night (May 30), philosopher Luc Ferry (above), former minister of Education in the Villepin government created a sensation on the Canal + television channel. Along with talk about the DSK and Georges Tron affairs he explained:

"Journalists cannot say what they know. I could give you many examples, that you know as well as I, because they all come under the heading of defamation. The problem is this: do we want a press that defies the principles of defamation and respect for a person's private life, or not? Do we want an American-style press or not?" And he referred to this week's Figaro Magazine, and the case "of that former minister who got caught in Marrakech, Morocco, in an orgy with young boys (…) The highest authorities of the State, in particular the prime minister, told me the story."

Note: Dominique de Villepin was prime minister in 2003 during the Chirac presidency:

Questioned about what proof he had, Luc Ferry responded that he "obviously" didn't have any. But added, "I have testimonies from members of the cabinet on the highest level, and from State authorities on the highest level. If I say the name now, if I blurt it out, I would be the one to be investigated and I would certainly be condemned even if I knew the story was true. Here we have an example of how violating the respect for someone's private life and defamation weighs heavily on journalists - and rightly so."

Gollnisch concludes that Luc Ferry should run the risk of a lawsuit so that the French government not be accused of covering up the depravity of a minister of the Republic, especially since it is now all over the media. To snuff it out would be an exceptionally dishonorable thing to do. He also points out that there are international agreements by which a French pedophile who indulges in immoral acts abroad can be condemned in his homeland. Gollnisch wonders whether Luc Ferry said too much, or not enough. Below, the few minutes during which Luc Ferry made his remarks.



Soon after Ferry's statements, former minister of Education in the Socialist government of Lionel Jospin, Jack Lang, assuming that he was the object of Ferry's accusations, issued an angry condemnation of Ferry. Why would Jack Lang assume that Luc Ferry had been talking about him? A long article at L'Express, a left-leaning publication, provides some background.

It seems that during the presidential campaign of 2002, there were rumors, possibly spread by opposition politicians, that Lang had been caught in the act with Moroccan boys. However no facts, no proof was ever found to back up the story.

Contacted by L'Express regarding Luc Ferry's statements, Jack Lang declared that he and his lawyer were "going to examine the possibility of suing for defamation." About the rumors, the former minister of Culture admitted: "I have suffered in the past but today I am totally serene." (…)

"Even though I never heard about this rumor, the Right always takes pleasure in gossip surrounding the personality of Jack Lang", confided a former cabinet official of the time.

Another article at L'Express dated 2005 paints a portrait of Jack Lang as a man who attracts trouble without trying. As mayor of Blois, as minister of Culture and later of National Education, he was often accused of wrongdoing. Whether it was plundering public funds to give perks and bonuses, or partially writing a book that others started or completed for him, and then passing himself off as the author, or being a pedophile (a rumor that was abroad as early as 1995), the accusations became part and parcel of his public life.

In 2002 a close associate said, regarding the rumor of pedophilia:

"Pleasure is important in his life, but he is too concerned about the freedom of others to indulge in anything illegal (…)"

Luc Ferry was also contacted by L'Express. He claimed he never thought of himself as squealing on someone:

"I wanted to defend the press that respects a person's private life, a press that was not guilty of informing. I have no proof, no precise fact about this affair, but at the time when I was minister, I heard about it. I heard many things about many ministers, but I will never talk, unless the Republic is in danger."

Luc Ferry opened up a fascinating legal debate when he made his remarks. He said that if he blurted out the name of the ex-minister he (Ferry) would be prosecuted. But it turns out that he could be prosecuted for NOT revealing the name under the law (Article 343-3 of the penal code) that declares as criminal any withholding of knowledge of a crime against children. And pedophilia is a crime. A blogger named Théophane Le Mené writes:

(…) We must conclude that, for once, the philosopher did not take the time to speak or, at least, did not measure how eagerly he was letting himself get entangled in an affair that would, in one way or another, cost him. For unlike many, he seems to take pride in being virtuous with respect to children, and his silence on a matter that he should have taken to court is frankly scandalous, but above all reprehensible. (…)

The author goes over the numerous cases of abuse of minors in which politicians were implicated. Among them, the case of the current minister of Culture Frédéric Mitterand, who has admitted to pedophilia in his book on his travels to Thailand.

There are even more stories like these. The only thing we can now hope for is that they emerge from the maze where they were sent by journalists and politicians. Because, when the defense of children is at stake, there is no defamation, no calumny, there is just a basic duty that powerful men seem to have forgotten.

A reader of the above article raises some interesting points:

- If the children were Moroccan and the sexual abuse was committed in Morocco, why would the French penal code apply?

(Note: Bruno Gollnisch answers this in the first article cited above)

- In reality, we are dealing with the question of whether non-denunciation is a separate crime. That is, can you prosecute someone for not denouncing acts that the French justice system is not qualified to judge.

(Note: Théopane Le Mené points out that whether or not the French system is qualified is determined by the judge. The important thing is to take the case to court.)

- As a provocative example, let us imagine that I have knowledge of acts of pedophilia, or mistreatment of children, in Thailand, like any French tourist. Should I inform the French authorities in order to avoid prosecution? If the answer is yes, then a third of French people should be in jail. The easiest thing would be to exile them in Thailand - everybody would be happy, the moralists and pedophiles alike. (…)

Note: Théophane Le Mené answers that a crime committed by a Frenchman abroad can be prosecuted in France, and in a case of pedophilia or another crime, punishment can be meted out in France even if the country where the act was committed does not condemn the criminal.

It turns out that Jack Lang was not the ex-minister alluded to by Luc Ferry. Or was he? A new rumor has it that the man in question is Philippe Douste-Blazy, former foreign minister under Jacques Chirac. The editor of Le Figaro who made this revelation - Thierry Desjardins - seems to have misplaced his article which was entitled "But everyone knows it was Douste-Blazy!" It is no longer on line. There are however several sites that back up Desjardins. Readers of French can consult Boursorama.

Below, the clip from Le Figaro last week reviewing the story of an orgy in Marrakech in which a French minister was participating. At the end, the article says the name cannot be divulged because there is no proof or testimony. From Agoravox.