Fréjus - More Handwriting on the Wall

A house in the Sainte-Croix neighborhood of Fréjus, was covered with slogans in praise of Mohamed Merah late Wednesday and early Thursday (March 29 - 30), reports Var Matin, a local paper.

On Thursday morning, the residents of Fréjus discovered with shock, anger and disgust numerous graffiti on the facade. Most pay homage to "Al Kaïda" (sic) and to the killer Mohamed Merah, who killed seven persons in cold blood in Toulouse and Montauban.

Other graffiti also target the mayor, his wife and even the police. The national police were on the scene to find as many clues as possible left by the perpetrator(s), who did not forget to sign: 4-SEZ, referring to the housing project "Les Quatre Saisons" ("the four seasons"), a few steps away.

There may be trouble today in the area.

Note: Some people are still putting their heads in the sand. One reader asks the paper to stop printing images of him:

- I find that there is a lot of talk about this child killer, more than there is about the good deeds that many people in France do. Be so kind as to remove him from your articles.

Of course, it could be an immigrant speaking.

Here's another:

- What bothers me is that we give so much attention to people who aren't worth the effort. Ignoring them would be the best thing - leave them in the anonymity they deserve. It's normal after they have been caught and punished, but for heaven's sake… let's stop these stories that increase the very legitimate fears and anxieties.

Note: If the fears and anxieties are legitimate, there is no justification for hiding the truth, especially when it concerns the everyday life of the citizens, and is not classified information.

Not a Citizen...

Marine Le Pen:

It's scandalous, after all, that we cannot force Algeria to accept the body of Mohamed Merah. He has much closer ties to Algeria than he has with France. Does this mean he will be buried in the same cemetery, perhaps, as his victims? I heard the mayor of Toulouse say that Mohamed Merah was a citizen like any other. No. He is not a citizen like any other.

Burial in Toulouse

Here is more on the graffiti extolling Mohamed Merah. The wall pictured above is in Tarbes (150 km from Toulouse). A website called Melty has the story, dated March 29:

The death of Mohamed Merah has come as a relief for some… and an injustice for others. While equipment Merah used in the killings (note: the motorbike and a helmet) were found in the department of l'Aude, there is still another repercussion. The police discovered antisemitic graffiti glorifying the killer Wednesday night in Tarbes. These remarks were written on the wall of a house in the residential section of Tarbes. Not far away a car was in flames. The firemen who extinguished it were the first to find the graffiti:

"You were a brave knight of Islam. You fought the Zionist shit and the false Muslims. You died holding your weapons. I salute you Mohamed, my brother, my friend… Rest in peace!"

As soon as he saw it, Mayor Gérard Trémège had it removed, saying he was "scandalized" and "strongly condemned" the remarks.

The article concludes with another topic that caused a controversy - the burial place of Mohamed Merah:

Even dead, Mohamed Merah is still on people's minds. The question of his burial in France or Algeria aroused a controversy. It appeared to be resolved and now it turns out that he will be buried in France, not Algeria as originally scheduled. His burial is to take place on Thursday (March 29) in the Cornebarrieu cemetery near Toulouse. Why? Because Algiers refused to bury Mohamed Merah on its territory…

According to La Dépêche, a local paper, Pierre Cohen, mayor of Toulouse attempted in vain to delay the burial by 24 hours, in order to give the French State time to find another solution:

In a communiqué, Pierre Cohen called on the State in the matter of the burial of Mohamed Merah in the city, deeming it to be "inopportune". (…) He asked the prefect to delay the burial, but received no answer.

The idea of a burial near Toulouse, where Merah had always lived, aroused fears that his grave would become an outlet for hatred, and for sympathy as well.

Nicolas Sarkozy, Thursday on BFM-TV, expressed the wish that no dispute take place over the burial:

"He was French, let him be buried and let us not have a dispute over this."

Below, the hearse.

In the Aftermath of Toulouse

Le Parisien, dated March 26, reports on the aftermath of the killings in Toulouse and Montauban, and the tense climate that reigns throughout the country:

Several serious incidents have been reported by the police throughout France since the death of Mohamed Merah. On March 24, around 1:00 p.m., a Jewish man, owner of a nightclub in Dijon (Côte-d'Or) filed a complaint after receiving death threats by e-mail. His mysterious correspondent claimed to be from al-Qaeda and made a reference to the murders committed by Mohamed Merah, indicating that he had to turn over to him a large sum of money if he wanted to live.

The same day, a few hours earlier in Sarcelles (Val d'Oise), five traces of bullets from a light calibre weapon were found on a window of the Yitzhak-Rabin municipal conservatory of music. First reports said the shots were aimed at a poster calling for a republican meeting on March 25 in front of the city synagogue.

On March 23, around 10:30 a.m., in downtown Toulouse, three boys ages 16, 17, and 19, claiming to know Mohamed Merah, wrote, with a felt pen, several slogans in praise of the killer on a sign just in front of the great synagogue of the city. At the same time, municipal police intervened in the sensitive neighborhood of la Bagatelle where several unknown persons had written graffiti hostile to the police and glorifying the crimes of Mohamed Merah.

As early as March 22 in the Izards neighborhood where the killer lived, the anti-crime brigade had been attacked by a group of twenty hostile young persons. One of them broke away from the group and threatened the police declaring: "My buddy Mohamed, was a good guy, a real one… Too bad he didn't have time to finish the job and kill more police, but the job will be done…" The twenty-year-old who spoke those words was arrested, then turned over to the judicial police in charge of the Merah affair.

Also on March 22, around 2:30 p.m. during a drug-trafficking trial in the Bordeaux courthouse, a man shouted: "It's thanks to you that there are Mohamed Merahs. Vive le terrorism! Vive al-Qaeda! Vive Mohamed Merah!" The suspect, 31, was immediately arrested and taken into custody. A search of his home turned up 14,000 euros in cash and some computers.

According to Islamisation there has been an increase in Facebook comments favorable to Mohamed Merah. Below a screen image from Facebook.

Défrancisation, quoting from a much longer article at France-Soir, reports trouble in the suburbs of Paris, notably Seine-Saint-Denis:

An apartment guard and a history teacher, both Muslims of Maghrebin origin, confide their concerns on a situation in the suburbs they consider "alarming". (…) "Since last Friday (March 23), in the housing project, there has been graffiti in praise of Merah: "Glory to Mohamed", "glory to the martyr". If it goes on like this things will explode. There are other kids around here capable of going crazy the way Merah did.

Note: He calls Merah a "gamin", a kid.

"Merah is glorified because he brought France to her knees. (…) When the police think they have caught up with them, these young people are already gone. They speak to us in the Afghan and Pakistani media - young people haven't gone there for a while." He goes even further. He affirms: "Now, it is happening in Tunisia, and in southern Algeria, I see kids disappear from the neighborhood for several months. When they come back they are very strong, very determined, with a completely different behavior: no more nanas, or rap, or alcohol, or pot. They've been brainwashed by fundamentalists who shame us Muslims." (…) "When the elevator repairman is called, he is often frisked by a dealer, to make sure there's no microphone on him." (…) Today, the license plates of plainclothes policemen are scribbled on the walls inside the elevators, to better identify them."

Le Figaro of March 30 reported on several arrests of members of Forsane Alizza, an extremely radical jihadist group created in France in August 2010 and dissolved by order of Interior Minister Claude Guéant in February 2011. The group has as its goal to set the Muslims of France against French society, by labeling the French as infidels, and the French State as Satan:

Twenty persons were arrested Friday morning in a police raid carried out in several French cities, notably Toulouse and Nantes. Those arrested were suspected of gravitating towards the jihadist Forsane Alizza movement, dissolved on February 29, 2012 by the Interior Ministry.

The arrests were conjointly carried out by the DCPJ and the DCRI (note: bureaux of judicial police and internal intelligence, respectively). Other police were called in as reinforcements due to the supposedly dangerous nature of the suspects whose home had to be searched.

The operation was carried out eight days after the death of Mohamed Merah. (…) "There is no link between the two affairs" a source close to the case explained, even if Forsane had been mentioned by various sources, then denied, at the moment of the siege in Toulouse by RAID, the special unit of the police. 

Below, Mohamed Achamlane, chief of Forsane, arrested on March 30. The photo is from France TV.

Crime and Immigration? No Connection.

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, one of the minor candidates in the election, seemed at one point, five years ago, to be headed in the "right" direction. A sovereigntist, who followed in the spirit of de Gaulle, he stood out as a possible alternative to Jean-Marie Le Pen.

But he is no alternative to Marine Le Pen. With only 1% of the votes, he probably feels he owes Sarkozy a favor as payment (perhaps?) for the 700+ signatures he managed to obtain. This article is from Défrancisation:

On Tuesday, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, sovereigntist candidate for the presidency, called Marine Le Pen's speech on Sunday, in which she linked the issues of immigration and crime, "intolerable". "I find this assimilation odious", declared the candidate of Debout la République. "What Marine Le Pen said is intolerable," he added.

Marine Le Pen "says in substance that all those named Mohamed are potentially like Merah. It's intolerable," insisted Nicolas Dupont-Aignan.

According to the readers' comments, he distorted Marine Le Pen's words. Not unusual these days.

NDA founded his party Debout la République in March 2007. He has been mayor of Yerres in the department of Essonne since 1995.

Some of his ideas are sound: sovereignty for France, refusal of the EU Constitution, refusal of France in NATO, opposition to aid for Greece... But despite his qualities he has not yet shown the originality needed to break away from the Establishment or the backbone to admit the truth about the crisis in France, except, perhaps, for his economic point of view.

FYI

Just FYI, Gateway Pundit reports that Jane Fonda will play Nancy Reagan in an upcoming film about Washington politics.

Renaud Camus in Support of Marine Le Pen

Writer Renaud Camus, who attempted to run in the presidential election, has called on the voters to vote for Marine Le Pen, whose "courage, intelligence and determination" he praises.

Source: Defrancisation

Renaud Camus is an unusual personality. An esteemed writer and social critic, he wrote an influential book called La Grande Déculturation, 2008, published by Fayard, about the decline of the cultural level of the French population. He is homosexual, but keeps a low profile on this topic. He espouses the immigration policies of the Front National, and has been sharply criticized for this by those who claim to otherwise admire him.

Here is a quote from Renaud Camus, translated as best I can:

Those who claim they can combine culture and equality, education and equality, and introduce equality or some equality into culture or education, are deceiving themselves or deceiving others, or both, because there is a radical, fundamental, insurmountable incompatibility between these domains, these fields or these values. Equality is as absent from culture as it is from nature. The grandest proclamations can only recognize, or impose, or feign to impose, an equality in law, or an equality of rights; and this attitude is an heroic, a magnificent defiance of everything that is observed in nature and among men. (…) Equality is a constraint that certain civilizations impose on themselves with great difficulty, in general against their most ancient traditions and against their instincts.

"I will sue France..."

Mohamed Merah's father plans to sue France. Le Figaro reports:

The father of Mohamed Merah announced he will file a suit against France for "having killed" his son, he declared Monday to AFP.

"I will hire the best lawyers and work for the rest of my life to pay the fees. I'm going to file a lawsuit against France for having killed my son," declared Mohamed Benalel Merah. "France is a great country that had the means to arrest my son alive. They could have knocked him out with gas and arrested him. They preferred to kill him," he affirmed.

"I have decided to bury, Inchallah, my son in Algeria," declared Merah. "His brother Abdelghani called me to assure me that they will do what has to be done to bring him back to Algeria. Mohamed had an Algerian passport and had been registered at the consulate of Toulouse since his birth," he added.

The article describes the family situation. The father has been separated from the mother since 1994 when Mohamed was six years old. The father has been convicted twice to jail terms. In 2000 he was sentenced to five years without probation for cannabis trafficking.

Mohamed's maternal uncle Djamel Aziri explained that Mohamed wanted to settle in Algeria to raise a family because he had come to hate France where his social situation had become difficult.

Note: It seems to me very unlikely that any court would hear the case. And yet, no matter how bad a killer is, when he is killed by the State, the desire for revenge and compensation is very great and he ends up having much support among those who also bear a grudge against the State, for whatever reason.

RTL has posted this comment from Foreign Minister Alain Juppé:

Foreign Minister Alain Juppé responded Tuesday to this threat (of a lawsuit) by advising him to "be silent", calling his son "a monster" responsible for seven murders. "If I were the father of such a monster, I would remain silent out of shame," Juppé said.

The same article gives the latest on Mohamed Merah's brother Abdelkader:

Abdelkader Merah, brother of the killer, has been held in custody since Sunday night in an isolated area of the Fresnes prison in the department of Val-de-Marne.

Thirty years old, he had been indicted on Sunday for "complicity in assassinations", "association with criminals for the purpose of preparing acts of terrorism" and "gang theft" for the theft of the motor-bike that Mohamed Merah used to commit his crimes in Toulouse and Montauban.

Below, Mohamed Merah and a glimpse of his resumé where he lied about having been in the Foreign Legion.

Homage to Abel Chennouf

One of the soldiers killed in Montauban was neither Arab, nor Muslim, but Kabyle and Catholic. A reader sent the following homily delivered by the chaplain of the 17th RGP, Christian Venard, at the funeral services for corporal Abel Chennouf. Read the original French text at Riposte-Catholique.

Abel, my parachutist comrade, my brother, one week ago, to the day and almost to the hour, I held your hand, still warm from the life that an assassin had just taken from you. I held your hand and prayed for you, thinking about your mother and commending you to the heavenly mother, the Virgin Mary. I did not yet know Caroline, but if I had, I would have spoken for her also, and for the baby you are expecting. Then I leaned over your comrade Mohamed Legouad that the remarkable emergency medical teams were keeping alive. Finally, I witnessed the departure for the hospital of Loïc Liber, who at this very moment is fighting for his life, surrounded by his mother and father. What suffering! What incomprehension! But also, what solidarity, support, homages and, for us Christians, faith (as the bishop reminded us yesterday in Montauban cathedral) and hope, despite all!

Two thousand seven hundred years ago, in Rome, in the heart of the forum, symbol and center of life of the city, a chasm opened up. The oracle who was consulted issued this response: to close up this chasm, Rome had to throw into it what was most precious to her. Everyone was still wondering what could be the most precious thing, when a young horseman, a young soldier, Curtius, threw himself and his horse into the chasm which immediately closed up. Yes, the most precious thing Rome had was a young soldier, defender of the city.

The terrorist criminal who perpetrated the actions that cost you your life, Abel, attempted to open a chasm. The price to pay to close it is of course infinitely too dear; but, my friend Abel, you have become, like Curtius, a symbol of what our country, France, possesses that is most precious. And from now on, that is how you appear to us: a young corporal parachutist, who died for France, in a terrorist attack that sought to bring down our Fatherland.

Abel, I want to go even further. It's because you were wearing the French uniform, because you were proud of your red beret, that this criminal targeted you. What this murderer could not know is all that you represent today for our country. Born into a family both Alsatian (with all that this region conjures up of suffering linked to two world conflicts) and Kabyle (how can we not evoke the painful events in Algeria), your family chose France with (and I repeat the very words of you dear father), with all her traditions, including her most profound roots which are Christian. How could we not see, my friend Abel, in such an accumulation of symbols, what we have that is most precious, this capacity that our French Fatherland possesses to take into her bosom all those who want to become her children.

At the moment when we lay you in the earth, in this earth formed by the bones of our fathers (that too is the Fatherland), Abel, with all your family, your friends, your comrade parachutists, I pledge that we will support Caroline and your child. That we will be present by their side. Now, it is to God that we commend you, through the Catholic rites that accompany our deceased. We know that you live beside the Father. You have rejoined Jesus, this God who became Man, this innocent who died because of the evil and the violence that too often inhabit the hearts of men. Your sacrifice is enveloped in that of the Christ Jesus. Finding you last Thursday, lying on the ground of Montauban, taking your hand and seeing that blood so red and so pure flow from your wounds, I commended to the Lord of Life, this life that was flowing out of you. And if no tear fell from my eyes, like so many of your comrades, it was my heart that cried over all violence done to innocents on this poor earth. And it was to the Innocent One who shed his Blood to reconcile us with his Father, who shed his own Blood as ransom for all violence, that I commended your beautiful soul.

Abel, French of Alsatian and Kabyle origin, Catholic by choice, parachutist in the service of France, may our great patron saint, Saint Michael the Archangel welcome you and lead you to the bosom of the Father, with the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.


Thanks to zazie.

Car Burnings in Argenteuil

From Alexandre Simonnot of the Front National:

Fifteen cars were torched last night (Saturday, March 24) in Argenteuil in the department of the Val-d'Oise.

Just a reminder that it was precisely in this city that Nicolas Sarkozy promised to rid us of the "racaille" ("scum").

Unfortunately, quite the opposite has happened. Crime continues to increase, and despite the fine electoral promises made by Nicolas Sarkozy, the "racaille" is still there!

Considering the failure and total lack of action from the government in matters of security, only Marine Le Pen and the Front National propose the indispensable reinforcement of police, judicial and prison forces that would restore to the French their security, the first of their freedoms.

Source: Yann Redekker

Toulouse - Update

I just received this in my box from Le Figaro. I have no idea if it is true, false, or partially true. Figaro readers are furious, but I don't think their anger is justified:

According to several police sources, the video sent to the Qatari al-Jazeera network has been authenticated by the French police as being an assembly of images filmed by Mohamed Merah during the killings with his Gopro camera. The letter was sent from a small village near Toulouse. The video, saved on a USB key, lasts 25 minutes.

The letter that accompanies the USB key claims responsibility for an al-Qaeda operation, but the investigators believe it is dubious: it does not match any of the very precise examples of claims made by the obscure terrorist; it is not written in Arabic and it does not contain any identifiable stamp of the obscure al-Qaeda.

According to the police, the letter was posted either by Mohamed Merah, or by his brother Abdelkader. Investigations are underway.

Note: What a remarkable example of the uneasiness of the press when it has to deal with the reality of terrorism! The "obscure" terrorist makes "precise" claims. The terrorist group known throughout the world as al-Qaeda is also "obscure". It could not have been written by Merah, and then again it could have been written by Merah!

I used the word "obscure" to translate the French "nébuleux" which means "nebulous", but can also mean "shadowy", hence there is a slightly sinister connotation. So possibly Le Figaro is not as "nebulous" as I thought.

Some readers are furious for the wrong reason. They have had enough of the Merah thing, they feel that news about a film of the killings is a horror and should not be announced, they don't understand why the press won't drop this subject, and what is this thing called jihad, isn't it an inner struggle?, etc…

My explanation of their reaction: they seem to be in denial. They were traumatized by the event and they cannot accept that a Muslim did it. Maybe 9/11 DID happen after all? Maybe it wasn't a hoax set up by Bush and Israel? Maybe, perhaps, there is a jihad against the West, including France? Maybe something worse will happen in France at some future date unknown to us, but known to the obscure terrorists. Maybe Marine Le Pen is right???

Please note that I do not condone showing such a film to anyone but the authorities. I do not condone showing it on television. I would not allow anyone, least of all sensitive persons and children, to ever see such a thing, if it exists. But if it exists, the authorities should know about it. It is an example of how these killers work, and of the pride they take in their work. Attacks in France by gangs are often accompanied by videos, one gang member having been assigned the task of perpetuating for history the glorious crime of which they are the authors.

The Curse of the "Amalgam"

Yves Daoudal, in his weekly newsletter #164, discusses the sword of Damocles hanging over the head of every Frenchman who opens his mouth to speak. I'm calling it the "curse of the amalgam", an example of how a simple word, removed somewhat from its original chemical significance, has come to terrorize the people, allow fulminating judges and bureaucrats to exact punishments and fines from French patriots, and prevent, as in Toulouse, the proper execution of an investigation even when the security of the country is at stake. (A reminder that "amalgam" refers to an improper association or assimilation, and that its underlying meaning today stems from the doctrine of non-white supremacy: only whites are guilty, ergo if a crime is committed the criminal cannot be white, and you must not assimilate the notions of criminality and terrorism with peoples of color or Muslims.)

Since the killer of Toulouse and Montauban could only be a neonazi, since the "terrorist theory" (i.e., an Islamist) was not considered, the investigators picked apart 20,000 files of military veterans likely to correspond to the profile.

"We lost a considerable amount of time", admitted Gérard Longuet…

Note: Longuet is Defense Minister

But they continued to deny any connection with radical Islam. Even though the killer was known to be a fanatic. Even though he had gone to the Pakistan-Afghan border, in North Waziristan, and an al-Qaeda group based in North Waziristan had claimed responsibility for the murders. We watched as Nicolas Sarkozy, in a solemn speech from Elysée, stressed that Islam had nothing to do with it since he had killed Muslims.

The president might have added that there was a Catholic among those Muslims, to add to the confusion. But the Catholic was erased from the picture: he did not correspond the obligatory ideology.

Either Nicolas Sarkozy takes the French for imbeciles, or he is truly blinded to the point of not understanding that killing Muslims is the very sign of Mohamed Merah's Islamism. He killed Maghrebins back from Afghanistan because they are his worst enemies: these Muslims are fighting real Afghan Muslims, they are traitors to the umma, they deserve to die. He apparently didn't know that Abel Chennouf was Catholic, but had he known, it would have been one more reason for killing him: he was an apostate.

It is significant that he said to his first victim Imad Ibène Ziaten: "You have killed my brothers. I will kill you." The soldier sent to Afghanistan against the Taliban is no longer his brother, even though he is Maghrebin and Muslim also. His brother is the real Muslim who fights against the perverted Muslims employed by an impious power.

The investigators and the media were stupefied to learn that Merah's older brother said openly that he was proud of what his brother had done. They would be even more stupefied to learn that it was the reaction of hundreds, maybe thousands of young people in the suburbs. How many deaths will it take for them to open their eyes?

In the same speech, Nicolas Sarkozy spoke of "extremist ideologies" in order not to incriminate Islam. And among his announcements, there was this one: "Henceforth, any person who habitually consults websites that support terrorism or that call for violence will be punished as criminals."

In that case he will have to prosecute anyone who consults websites that post the Koran, the Sunna, the Hadiths, and speak of Mohammed as an example to follow, as the "role model" (who, notably, massacred the Jews of Medina). I don't want to make an amalgam, but that's a lot of Muslims…

And this is what Mohamed Merah himself said. During the siege, he declared, according to Bernard Squarcini chief of the DCRI (internal intelligence), that he had "become a radical in prison, all by himself, by reading the Koran," adding "at any rate, in the Koran there is everything."

Yes, in the Koran there is everything. And yes, it is enough to read the Koran to radicalize oneself, because the Koran is a radical book. It explains that Islam must spread over all the earth by any and all means, including jihad which is an obligation for any Muslim, that Allah made of the Jews and Christians monkeys and pigs, that they must be killed wherever they are, or reduced to dhimmitude.

Therefore, the regular readers of the Koran are the ones we must prosecute. Including the imams of the mosques...

In the video at the top (with English subtitles) Nicolas Sarkozy makes no "amalgam" between the social climate in France and the killings, and no "amalgam" between the killer's motivation and a religious doctrine. For Sarkozy, the crimes have no explanation whatsoever. When Mohamed Merah admitted he had become a radical by reading the Koran, the only solution Sarkozy could come up with was to punish anyone who read "extremist" websites. The video below explains what the consequences would be:



Speaker: The legal experts are wondering… The measures announced by Nicolas Sarkozy already exist. A law from 1881 condemns apologies of terrorism but the law is rarely applied.

Virginie Duval, of the magistrates' union: I'm not sure that more laws are needed for the existing ones to function. Debate is needed. Perhaps he should not have made the announcements in the heat of the moment after something so intense.

Speaker: What's new is that the target is the Internet and its absolute freedom of expression. Anyone who regularly consults websites condoning hatred and violence will be prosecuted. The Internet community feels the proposals of Nicolas Sarkozy are not appropriate.

Pascal Samama, editor of 01.net: A child doing a report on terrorism may happen upon one of those sites. However, a terrorist who wants to communicate with his network uses a system of filters that prevent the authorities from detecting him. How will they fight against such people? Obviously with more restrictions. And this may cause much inconvenience to many people for no good reason.

Speaker: Filtering systems en masse already exist in some countries: in Saudi Arabia and in China.

Tariq Ramadan's Analysis

Here is Tariq Ramadan's explanation for the murderous conduct of Mohamed Merah. It comes from Gates of Vienna, where you will find information about this particular translation.

The problem of Mohamed Merah is neither religion nor politics. A French citizen frustrated by not finding his place, his dignity, and the sense of life in his own country, he will find two political causes for expressing his rancor: the Afghan and Palestinian peoples. He attacks certain symbols, the army, and kills Jews, Christians, and Muslims without distinction. He expresses the political thinking of a wayward young adult within whom dwell neither the values of Islam, nor the thoughts of racists or anti-Semites. Young, disoriented, he has fired at targets who had above all the power and meaning of their visibility. Neither more nor less. A poor boy, culpable and to be condemned, without the shadow of a doubt, quite as if he was himself the victim of a social order that had already condemned him and millions of others to marginality, to non-acknowledgment of his civic equality of right and opportunity [son statut de citoyen à égalité de droit et de chance]. Mohamed, characterized now by his name, was a French citizen by way of immigration before he became a terrorist of immigrant origin. His destiny was quite closely tied to the perception that one had of his origins. In the provocation of it, he had closed his own circle: he had freed himself of the image, previously deformed and degrading, by become the definitive “other.” For the French people of France, there is nothing less French than the Arab-Muslim Mohamed.

The Mayor of Toulouse and the JDL

While browsing through articles on Toulouse, I found indications that the city is administered by a Socialist mayor, Pierre Cohen, who is actively pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel. These indications came from articles posted by the JDL (Jewish Defense League), but I have not (yet) found substantial background information on Cohen's political and cultural views.

On Friday March 23, a rally was held at the Capitole de Toulouse, an historical building that today serves as the City Hall. Le Point reported:

Thousands of persons gathered Friday at the place du Capitole to pay homage to the victims of Mohamed Merah and to say, in the words of the mayor: "That is not Toulouse". There were thousands, according to City Hall, 4000 according to the police, including Jews, Catholics, a few Muslims, who gathered around a banner reading "Vivre-ensemble: égalité, pluralité, dignité". The purpose of the gathering was to express solidarity with the families of the victims of "barbarous" acts, but also to show that "that is not Toulouse (…) because Toulouse is a welcoming place, a century of generosity", said Socialist mayor Pierre Cohen.

"There will be a before and after March 19," said the mayor. "The first thing we must do is to never forget", just as Toulouse has not forgotten another trauma: the explosion of the AZF factory, he said. But it is important that the "living-together" that characterizes Toulouse, prevails.

Note: "Vivre-ensemble", meaning "living together" is one of the French government's ubiquitous slogans ordering the French people to accept foreigners gladly.

Note: The explosion at the AZF fertilizer factory in September 2001 has never been clarified. Indications that it was a terrorist attack were covered up, and a suspect who worked at the factory died in the spectacular blast that killed 31 and injured hundreds.

(…)

The mayor was confident that the "four days just passed had showed everybody to be dignified and republican." As the presidential campaign got back into swing and seized upon the Merah affair, he expressed the hope that "what happened in Toulouse would absolutely not be the object of polemics, or exploited or misused".


The mayor of Toulouse, Pierre Cohen (above), was born on March 20, 1950 in Tunisia of a French Catholic mother and a Jewish father. He became a member of the Socialist party in 1974 and mayor of Toulouse in 2008. Since 1997 he has also been a deputy in the National Assembly.

The scant information from Wikipedia gives no clue as to his beliefs and his character, and says nothing about his personal life. The only indication that this mayor works actively for the Palestinians comes from an article I found posted at the website of the JDL, describing how the JDL went about encouraging Jews not to go to the rally on Friday March 23 at the place du Capitole in Toulouse.

The JDL article as published contains errors in the form of missing words in the next-to-last paragraph that I have had to supply using my best judgment:

For 24 hours, the members of the Jewish Defense League of Toulouse did a tremendous job of spreading the word. With the help of a laptop and a hundred makeshift tracts, we crisscrossed Toulouse. We began at the synagogue on place Riquet where, before the entire Jewish community that had come to hear Claude Guéant, we questioned Mr. Pierre Cohen on his virulent pro-Palestinian activities and the common ground he shared with the anti-Jewish assassin Merah. Mr. Cohen, vexed, retorted without shame: "You came here to question me like that" and preferred to leave rapidly the synagogue.

We went to Ozar Hatora school to meet the students and explain why they must not let themselves be used by the clique of the liar Pierre Cohen. We showed them the video of Mr. Cohen calling for the boycott of kosher products, and another taken when Toulouse became the twin city of Ramallah, and when all the public colleges of Toulouse were linked to those of the Palestinian territories.

Note: I should point out that Toulouse is also the twin city of Tel-Aviv, according to an article at France 3.

We also distributed printouts with screen images of pro-Palestinian sites lauding Pierre Cohen in his fight against Israel.

Note: I would like to see those websites.

The JDL divided up into two groups of two members each to spread the word in the restaurants and kosher supermarkets. We were well received from start to finish.

The next paragraph, with a few missing words, seems to say that thanks to a young student from Ozar Hatora, the JDL workers were able to question three reporters from a major French television station about their reasons for interrogating young students:

(…) the harassment by three reporters from a major French television station who had come expressly to ask questions of very young Jews on the conflict in Israel and the killing in Toulouse, hoping perhaps to badmouth a community already in shock and saddened by the ignoble and cowardly murders committed by the young pro-Palestinian Islamist. During our discussion, the reporters shot back "We're just doing our job", to which a JDL worker replied: "No. Your job is to tell the truth to the French about Mohamed Merah's hatred and his action. Israel has nothing to do with that." Very rapidly the police came and told the reporters to immediately stop the interview.

We will not cease to inform the community about those who, like the mayor of Toulouse, shill for the Palestinians, disguised under the cloak of antiracism.

Below, a 55-second video showing the signing of the agreement between Ramallah and Toulouse. Present are Janet Mikael, mayor of Ramallah and Pierre Cohen, mayor of Toulouse. I have not translated it, but the images speak for themselves.


Toulouse s'ouvre vers la Palestine by teletoulouse-wizdeo

The JDL has also issued a communiqué stating it will not take part in a demonstration on Sunday March 25 because of the presence of anti-Israel groups and parties such as the Green Party, the Human Rights League and the CGT labor union.

More information on Pierre Cohen would be welcome. If anybody can send a good link I'd be grateful.

Two Invitations - Update

The invitation to the two Islamic leaders has been rescinded by Interior Minister Claude Guéant. In a follow-up to his previous communiqué, Wallerand de Saint-Just explains that AFP (Agence France Presse) did not warn the French, but when Guéant made his decision to exclude al-Qaradawi and al-Masri, then the news agency "woke up" and sent out a dispatch. Saint-Just credits the Front National for its vigilance.

I would like to add to that that for a long time, Joachim Véliocas at Islamisation has also been sending out warnings on this and many other similar dangers threatening France. For French readers he has lots of information on al-Qaradawi, if you browse his site and follow the links.

An Invitation to Terrorists

Wallerand de Saint-Just (left), vice-president of the Front National, issued a communiqué about the UOIF convention in Paris on April 6:

We have learned that the Interior Ministry agreed to admit onto our territory sheikh Yussuf al-Qaradawi and Mahmoud al-Masri, officially invited by the UOIF for their annual gathering at Le Bourget, in Paris on April 6.

Note: The UOIF is the Union of Islamic Organizations of France, a group closely connected to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al-Qaradawi is the president of the European Council of the fatwa and of research. He declared, among other things, on January 28, 2009 on al-Jazeera TV: "All through history, Allah imposed on the Jews persons who would punish them for their corruption. The latest punishment was administered by Hitler. With all that he did to them - and even though they exaggerated the facts - he succeeded in putting them in their place. It was a divine punishment. Allah willing, the next time it will be at the hands of the Muslims."

Al-Masri is an Egyptian preacher close to the Brotherhood, who declared on the Egyptian channel Al-Nas on September 20, 2010: "(…) Allah sends to the shiites destructive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions! Allah, set the shiites against the Jews and the Jews against the shiites!"

Wallerand de Saint-Just demands that the Interior Ministry be more precise and explain in greater detail these invitations which, if true, constitute a veritable scandal and proof that the Sarkozy government is displaying a guilty indifference when it does nothing against the Islamist fanaticism that is spreading dangerously throughout our land.

Some Thoughts from Ivan Rioufol

Here are some thoughts from Le Figaro journalist Ivan Rioufol writing at his blog. After making some less-than-helpful remarks about how most Muslims in France respect the laws and then wondering why there isn't a demonstration by Muslims against terrorism, he provides some comments of merit:

(…)

It was hatred of France that the terrorist expressed when he took the army and the school as targets. Supported by his family and probably a network, he is the monstrous child of a counter-society alien to our laws which has been set up in the suburbs. And here too, it would be too simple to refer only to the litanies of militant demographers and sociologists, who, even when they are willing to acknowledge the closed ranks of these communities, blame only the government, guilty of never doing enough despite the 45 billion euros poured into the renovation of the suburbs. Social problems are not enough to justify these resentments of a rival culture whose ambition it is to establish hegemony. A CSA poll in 2008 found that only 14% of French Muslims considered themselves "French first", compared with 22% who considered themselves "Muslims first", and 60% who considered themselves as much French as Muslim. It is this reality, akin to a counter-colonization, that those who would like to steer the campaign away from this crisis that ignites tensions between the communities and risks setting the most fanatical ones ablaze, constantly deny or underestimate. France, burst apart, is living on a powder keg.

(…)

Political realism should, beyond the fight against indoctrination that Nicolas Sarkozy announced yesterday, prod our leaders to reform the Code on nationality when it produces citizens who vomit on the nation and its democratic values, like the terrorist who boasted of having "brought France to her knees". To be courageous would mean to understand the scope of the nazi-islamism that is at war with the West everywhere in the world, and particularly with the Jews. On these subjects, Marine Le Pen has an advantage that Nicolas Sarkozy cannot allow her to keep without suffering losses.

Note: It's good to hear someone imply that this is tremendous political capital for the Front National. It is tragic but not surprising that innocent blood had to be shed for this advantage to be gained. Some, however, are saying that Marine is no longer in third place, but in fourth, after the Communist Jean-Luc Mélenchon. What a dreadful scenario after all the gains she made and all her hard work. Mélenchon is a traitor to the West who has said (apparently without flinching) that Communism does not have blood on its hands.

A Moment of Silence - for the Killer

Thanks to the reader who pointed this out to me. Nicolas Bay (left), Marine Le Pen's campaign spokesman has posted the communiqué at Nations Presse:

A teacher at the Gustave Flaubert High School (in Rouen) asked her students to observe a minute of silence in memory of the Islamist assassin Mohamed Merah who killed seven persons, including three children. Fortunately, a majority of students immediately protested against this scandal and informed the academic authorities.

The teacher, who presented Merah as a "victim", thus adopted as her own the bleeding heart, indulgent rhetoric so often expressed with regard to criminals. The teachers' union SGEN-CFDT hastened to defend the teacher while the two major parties (UMP and PS) kept a low profile…

This teacher no longer has her job in National Education. It is time to become aware of the development of the radical Islam in our country that enables terrorism. Political-religious fundamentalism draws its strength from the weaknesses of the political authorities who have allowed it to prosper for many years.

Note: Luc Chatel, minister of Education asked the rector of the school district to "immediately suspend" the teacher, and condemned "without reservation this unspeakable behavior."

It is great that the students were aware of what was at stake and of the jaw-dropping incompetence of the teacher.

Headlines from Riposte Laïque

Since it is impossible to translate or even summarize the deluge of articles that followed the shooting in Toulouse and the death of Mohammed Merah, here are a few headlines from Riposte Laïque:

After the massacre in Toulouse, how can France authorize a visit from the antisemite Qaradawi?

Why not tell the French that Mohamed Merah only applied the teachings of the Koran?

The Koran and the culture of excuse facilitated Mohamed Merah's act.

Mohamed Merah, a solitary wolf? Oh, really?

The terrible disappointment of the media that were dreaming of a hunt for a blond!

After the odious crimes of Montauban and Toulouse you'd better not offend my Islam!

Catastrophe for Sopo, Jacubowicz, Hollande, Mélenchon, the killer is named Mohamed!

Why were they not able to defend the French from the crimes of a known jihadist?

VFR Disabled - Off-topic

For those of you who read Lawrence Auster, his website VFR is down. He has been having problems lately. Let's hope he's back up soon.

Update: March 23, 3:40 p.m. Lawrence Auster says VFR is back up, however, I was not able to load it. The problem should be resolved soon.

I will get back to posting tonight. I have had a personal matter to attend to.

Proud to Have "Brought France to Her Knees"

If anybody out there is considering making an "amalgam" or "stigmatizing" or is in a "hateful" frame of mind, you'd better think twice.

Here are more reactions on the shootings, culled from an extremely long page at Le Parisien, a website that has been quite helpful these past few days. It has been giving blow-by-blow accounts of the events of the day, complete with a timeline.

As I write, he is still holed up in a building in Toulouse and says he wants to die armed. There have been several gun shots and/or explosions heard coming from that building. The suspect's car was blown up by the police as a precaution because it contained weapons and explosives.

One interesting fact: it seems that one of the soldiers was not a Muslim: funeral services for Abel Chennouf, 25, were held in the cathedral of Montauban.

Presidential candidate François Bayrou: "There exist explosive seeds in French society and the political leaders must take care to see to it that external conflicts and confrontations are not imported into the country."

Note: Bayrou has been providing ambiguous nonsense for years. He does not say that immigration must stop, only that conflicts must not be imported. His role in the election is to take votes from the Front National.

Jean-Louis Borloo of the Radical Party asks the French to avoid "amalgams" and "stigmatization" as the police try to arrest a Frenchman of Algerian origin who claims to be a jihadist.

Note: "Amalgam" is a popular word in France, and greatly overused. It refers to an association of things that should not be associated, e.g.. crime and immigration. We used to say "guilt by association." Of course we have the words "amalgam" and "amalgamation", but we rarely use them as the French do. "Assimilation" is perhaps an adequate translation.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppé in Israel: "The blood of our two countries was shed on Monday at the Ozar Hatorah school".

Richard Prasquier, president of CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Organization of France) rejects any "amalgam" between Islamist movements and the Islam of France.

Note: Prasquier and CRIF are left-wing, and openly accommodating to Muslims unless there is an incident in Israel. Then suddenly, Prasquier is very conservative. "Islam of France" is a concept born in the mind of Nicolas Sarkozy where it will hopefully soon expire.

Mohammed Oussaoui, president of the CFCM (French Council on the Muslim Religion) said that the Muslims of France were "offended" that the killer used Islam as a pretext.

Note: The CFCM is a government agency created by Nicolas Sarkozy to to resolve conflicts relating to Islam.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Communist presidential hopeful: "The identification of the degenerate criminal who challenged us is good news. Now, our first duty is to fight against all the hateful assimilations and stigmatizations that could be used as a pretext.

The Front National, that was for a while targeted, settled the accounts: "To Mme Buffet, Messrs. Mélenchon, Bayrou, Sopo and others: "You abjectly thought you could use the tragedy in Toulouse against the Front National" wrote the party in a communiqué addressed "To the bastards".

Note: "To the bastards" ("Aux salauds") is rather strong, and possibly not a good choice of words from the FN. While it's true that the enemies of the FN use much more accusatory language, the FN must control itself since it is always under excessively close scrutiny.

Marine Le Pen declared: "The man who killed considered himself Muslim first, not French", and affirmed that she refused any "amalgam" between French Muslims and the fundamentalists.

Note: I like the first part of her statement, not so much the second part.

Gilles Bernheim, grand rabbi of France declared: "There are monstrous acts the purpose of which is to oppose Jews and Muslims. That is perhaps what he wanted to do."

Nicolas Sarkozy: "I say to the nation that we must all come together. (…) Terrorism will not succeed in fracturing our national community. We must not yield to 'amalgams' or to vengeance."

François Hollande, Manuel Valls, Marine Le Pen, Eva Joly, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Jean-Michel Baylet and several journalists took off in the same plane bound for Toulouse. (Poor Marine)

Louis Aliot, vice-president of the Front National, feels that the declarations of Interior Minister Claude Guéant stating that the suspect had been under surveillance by the DCRI, "leaves some doubt" as to the efficiency of the fight against Islamist networks.

The killer regrets not having killed more. Mohamed Merah who took responsibility for the killings told the special forces negotiator that he had intended to kill more this morning. He also had other criminal plans: to kill two police officers identified in Toulouse. He said he was proud "to have brought France to her knees."