French Military Against Assad's Presence at Bastille Day Parade

Do the French really feel this way? From French Military Against Assad's Presence at Bastille Day Parade:

The French government has banned a demonstration by French veterans meant in part to protest against the presence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as an honored guest at the July 14 Bastille Day military parade, French media reported on Friday. French veterans blame Syria for the deaths of 58 French members of a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon in 1983. The FNAME veterans group has called on soldiers marching in Monday's parade to wear black armbands to protest Assad's presence. Former French President Jacques Chirac has previously said he would not be at the July 14 ceremonies because of Assad's participation. Chirac blames Assad for the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, for which Syrian intelligence services have been implicated.

French screen icon Bardot fined for anti-Muslim remarks

God Bless Brigitte Bardot for speaking the truth. If only Democrats had the same backbone as she does. From Breitbart:

Brigitte Bardot received a 15,000-euro (23,000 dollar) fine on Tuesday for inciting hatred against Muslims.

In December 2006, the film star-turned-animal rights activist wrote a letter to France's then interior minister, current President Nicolas Sarkozy, arguing that Muslims should stun animals before slaughtering them during the Aid al-Kabir holiday.

She outraged anti-racist groups by saying: "I've had enough of being led by the nose by this whole population which is destroying us, (and) destroying our country by imposing their ways."

Bardot, now 73 and suffering from arthritis, was absent from Tuesday's court hearing in Paris. She wrote to the court saying: "I'm sickened by how (these organisations) are harassing me."

She added: "I will not shut up until stunning is carried out" on animals before their ritual slaughter.

Bardot already has four convictions on similar charges. In 2004 she was fined 5,000 euros for inciting racial hatred in her book "Un Cri Dans le Silence" (A Cry in the Silence).

France is home to Europe's largest Muslim community, estimated at five million people.

You may purchase Un Cri Dans le Silence" (A Cry in the Silence) from Amazon, here.

Al-Dura Trial: Karsenty Wins in Paris

The truth emerges about Palestinianism, Palestiniasts, Pallywood and the al-Dura hoax. Via HonestReporting. com:

The iconic images of Mohammad al-Dura's alleged death in Gaza inflamed Palestinian sentiment and provoked terrible bloodshed. Despite the evidence that Israel was not responsible for firing the bullets that hit al-Dura, and doubts as to the credibility of the footage taken from the scene, this libel has continued to prevail.

HonestReporting has brought you the news directly from the trial of Philippe Karsenty, who accused France 2 and its reporter Charles Enderlin of knowingly broadcasting doctored footage of the al-Dura incident.

To recall, France 2 successfully sued Karsenty who then appealed against the verdict. At the appeal trial, some of the raw footage taken during that fateful day in Gaza was aired to a packed courtroom that witnessed numerous examples of "Pallywood" staging of events. France 2, however, only made available some 18 out of 27 minutes of footage that apparently exists.

Evidently, these scenes and the unreliability of France 2's cameraman Talal Abu Rahma has convinced the French appeals judge. Philippe Karsenty has won the appeal against his libel conviction.

Media commentator Tom Gross, who has previously reviewed (see our exclusive video) the al-Dura affair for HonestReporting, said in response to the verdict:

Today's ruling shows there are serious doubts about France 2's version of events, and that the entire world press - including the American TV networks - were irresponsible in being so quick to take at face value the claims of a local Palestinian cameraman working for France 2, a cameraman who has admitted his partisanship.

Karsenty said in a statement released after his victory:

The al-Dura lie is an assault on our ability to think, to criticize, to evaluate, and finally to reject information - especially the right to reject information on which we base our most cherished assumptions. One of Europe's most cherished assumptions is that Israel is a vicious Nazi-like entity that deliberately murders Palestinian Arab children. Moreover, polls conducted in Europe have identified Israel as the greatest threat to world peace, greater than Iran and North Korea, Pakistan and Syria. The al-Dura hoax is one of the pillars on which these assumptions rely.

Now it is time for France 2 to acknowledge that it created and is continuing to perpetuate the worst anti-Semitic libel of our era.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

At the time of writing, the full judgment had not been released to the media. However, Take A Pen's Endre Mozes was in the courtroom delivering firsthand accounts of proceedings to HonestReporting. Mozes spoke with some of the lawyers involved who had seen a copy of the judgment prior to its forthcoming release.
Amongst his observations and the comments from these lawyers was the court's acceptance of the argument that protagonists operating in non-democratic regimes such as the Palestinian areas are inherently less reliable and should be carefully scrutinized as should have been the case with Talal Abu Rahma.

Essentially, the court decided the level of doubt associated with the al-Dura footage warrants deep analysis. It is perfectly legitimate to question it, not libelous.

Philippe Karsenty's efforts have opened up France 2 to scrutiny and serves as an example of how the media should be held accountable for their material and the consequences of their reporting. France 2's al-Dura footage has been shown in court to be unreliable and possibly fake. Along with a number of investigations concluding that Israel was not responsible for the bullets that allegedly killed the boy, the icon that is al-Dura - the edifice upon which so much hostility has been directed at Israel, aided and abetted by a willing media - comes toppling down.

WHERE IS THE COVERAGE?

So far, despite access to Reuters and Associated Press wire reports, only Jewish and Israeli media have published the trial verdict. The mainstream media has regrettably remained silent. Is the same media that did so much to propagate the al-Dura libel without verifying the facts now too embarrassed to admit that they may have erred?

If your local media outlet has not covered this story, write to it and ask why not. While Philippe Karsenty has had his day in court, the State of Israel and all of those victims of the terror and violence fueled by images of al-Dura deserve nothing less.

Some of our own subscribers were not even in their teens in 2000 when the al-Dura case occurred and may not even remember it. Some of those who do remember have questioned why we should continue to pursue this case several years later.

We believe that, irrespective of how long it may take, the truth will emerge. Accountability and justice do not dissipate over time. HonestReporting will continue to hold the media to account and to revisit those cases where an injustice has been done.

COMING SOON - THE BIG LIES

HonestReporting will be bringing you the court's full judgment as part of a brand new interactive resource - The Big Lies. Using multimedia resources, including audio and video footage, al-Dura is but one of a number of case studies where untrue accusations have been reported as facts. This exciting resource will enable you to examine the lies, how the media presented them, and the real facts, as well as further resources to counter the next "Big Lie".

French banks release Iran's frozen assets

"The Zionist Regime." Via Iran news agency:

Presidential Advisor for legal and parliamentary affairs Majid Jafarzadeh said on Tuesday that the assets of Central Bank of Iran (CBI), which were seized by French banks, have been released. Speaking to IRNA, he said that the move followed continued efforts by Presidential department for legal and parliamentary affairs on Monday. CBI assets were frozen by Bank of French Banque Populaire. "In the past, the US and the Zionist regime had enacted illegal laws which ran counter to international law to encourage their nationals to lodge unfounded and baseless financial charges against our country's officials and had issued judgment by default to seize Iranian assets at foreign banks butdue to hard efforts of the Iranian judiciary officials, their plots failed and resulted in the issuance of a verdict on January 24, 2008 that nullified all these baseless accusations and unfounded charges." The case is regarded as a significant achievements for Iran, Jafarzadeh said.

Islamists planned attacks across Europe

Reuters likes to call them "Islamist extremists", but that is duplicitous term, because the word "Islamist" already implies "extremist". Regardless, this should come as no surprise to anyone, except of course Islamists, their defenders and apologists. From Islamists planned attacks across Europe:

Islamist extremists were planning attacks across Europe, especially against public transport, before their arrests in Barcelona last weekend, a Spanish paper reported on Saturday, citing a would-be attacker's testimony.

The Al Qaeda-inspired cell planned to attack the Barcelona metro and other targets in Spain, Germany, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom, said the bomber turned police informant.

In testimony that led to the arrest of 14 South Asians last Saturday, the informant told police the group had a preference for attacks on public transport, especially metro systems, El Pais newspaper reported.

Two pairs with explosive-filled bags were to enter separate Barcelona subway stations and other members of the group were to detonate their bombs by remote control, said the witness.

On Friday, Spain's government said the Barcelona cell was preparing to carry out the metro attack either last weekend or in the following 15 days.

Two other pairs of suicide bombers had been assigned targets elsewhere in Spain, another was to attack Germany, three were given objectives in France and two more were to strike Portugal.

The informant said the Barcelona cell had six suicide bombers and other members responsible for preparing explosives and planning attacks in other European states. Four of those arrested have since been released due to lack of evidence.

Al Qaeda was to take responsibility for the Barcelona attacks through Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban commander the Pakistani government says was behind the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, El Pais said.

The Barcelona bombings could have taken place less than two months before Spain's March 9 general election.

Islamic militants attacked Madrid commuter trains days before Spain's last general election in March 2004, killing 191 people and wounding 1,800. They said the attacks were made in revenge for Spain sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Furthermore, why bother with the term "al-Qaeda" as the name for "Islamist extremism" anyway. Muslims are involved in 25 of some 30 conflicts going on in the world: in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, East Timor, India, Indonesia (2 provinces), Kashmir, Kazakastan, Kosovo, Kurdistan, Macedonia, the Middle East, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sudan, Russia-Chechnya, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan. Wouldn't the term "Islamist" be sufficient?

Doesn't this mean that extremist Islam is the norm and normal Islam is extremely rare?

Today in Jewish History - Kislev 18

Sponsored by Aish.com:

In 1793, the French district of Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine passed an anti-Jewish law prohibiting circumcision and the wearing of beards. It also ordered the burning of books written in Hebrew. The French Revolution, born of the ideals of Enlightenment, had become the first society to emancipate the Jews, permitting them to enter the highest levels of government and finance. Yet all the talk of "equality" did not stop Voltaire from singling out the Jews as "the most abominable people in the world." The invective gained expression in the 1940s when the French Vichy regime took the initiative to round up and hand over 61,000 Jews to the Nazis.

France2: Release the Secret Muhammad al Durah Tapes!

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has strongly commended, and supports the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) demand of the France-2 television network that it release the full 27 minutes of footage of the alleged killing of the Palestinian boy, Muhammad al-Durah, on September 30 2000. The deputy commander of the IDF's Spokesman's Office, Col. Shlomi Am-Shalom, has submitted a letter to France-2's Jerusalem Bureau chief in Israel, Charles Enderlin, regarding Enderlin's story from September 30, 2000, in which 55 seconds of edited footage from the Netzarim junction filmed by a local Palestinian cameraman working for France-2, Tala Abu Rahma, purporting to show IDF forces shooting and killing al-Dura, was aired by France-2. Enderlin's story, which France-2 provided free of charge to the rest of the international media, led to world-wide accusations against Israel that the boy had been deliberately killed by the IDF during a shoot out with Palestinian Authority (PA) forces.

A French journalist, Philippe Karsenty, the editor of Media-Ratings, www.m-r.fr, an internet service that monitors the French media, is going to court in Paris on Wednesday, September 19 to appeal a judgment for defamation brought against him by France-2 television for questioning Enderlin's veracity and challenging him to explain obvious defects and inconsistencies in the al-Durah story. Part of the reason for the original judgment going against Karsenty cited by the court was the absence of an official complaint from Israel or the IDF regarding the veracity of the France-2 story. However, as early as November 2000, investigations on behalf of the IDF's Southern Command proved mathematically and physically that the IDF forces on the ground could not see al-Durah from their position and that it was physically impossible for their bullets to have killed him.

Respected media organizations like the Wall Street Journal, CBS News, Atlantic Monthly and Commentary magazine have all published detailed investigations that all concluded that the France-2 footage was either staged or simply edited to show something that did not happen, while an October 2002 German television documentary film by Esther Schapira, Three Bullets and a Dead Child: Who Shot Muhammad al-Durah? also concluded that IDF bullets could not have killed al-Durah. The ZOA has released a full discussion of the issues and called upon France-2 to release the full, never before publicly broadcast, 27 minutes of footage surrounding the incident in order to clarify whether the boy's alleged killing was a staged Palestinian propaganda incident.

* * *

The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress about the dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the media and on college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.

How Nicolas Sarkozy Could Destroy Hizbullah

From How Nicolas Sarkozy Could Destroy Hizbullah:

While the U.S. government designated Hizbullah as a terrorist organization a decade ago, the European Union has not. Doing so would require the consensus of all 27 member states, and several countries have been opposed, including Spain, Belgium, and, in particular, France.

Now, the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as France's new president may represent the best chance yet for Europe to reconsider its position. In a September 2006 closed-door session with Jewish leaders in the U.S., Sarkozy reportedly referred to Hizbullah as a "terrorist organization." During last summer's war between Hizbullah and Israel, Sarkozy defended Israel's right to defend itself against an organization he described as the "one aggressor" in the conflict.

Hizbullah uses Europe primarily as a fund-raising and recruiting ground. An annual German intelligence assessment estimates that 900 Lebanese Hizbullah members live in that country alone. A ban would significantly constrain Hizbullah's European activities, especially its ability to raise funds there.

According to Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah, EU designation of Hizbullah as a terrorist organization would "destroy" the organization as "[t]he sources of our funding will dry up and the sources of moral, political and material support will be destroyed."

The U.S. should engage the new French president on this issue as soon as possible. Sarkozy is uniquely positioned to make Nasrallah's fear a reality.

French Jews Celebrate Sarkozy Victory

From French Jews Celebrate Sarkozy Victory:

Optimistic and celebratory, Jewish groups were quick to offer congratulations to Nicolas Sarkozy after his victory in French presidential elections. The former interior minister was seen by Jewish voters as a friend to Israel and an important figure in the fight against anti-Semitism. Soon after his opponent conceded, Jewish groups came out with their good wishes.

See also Nicholas Sarkozy, New President of France: Past and Future:

Sarkozy’s mother was born to the Mallah family, one of the oldest Jewish families of Salonika, Greece. In a 2004 interview, Sarkozy stated, "Every Jew carries within him a fear passed down through generations, and he knows that if one day he will not feel safe in his country, there will always be a place that would welcome him. And this is Israel.”

French rabbi punched in anti-Semitic attack

Anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide, but France has seen a particularly significant jump in the number of violent attacks on Jews. On Thursday, a rabbi was punched in the face and hospitalized.

The rabbi of Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern France was violently attacked Thursday morning by a 20-year-old man while walking in the lanes of the Paris North train station.

Rabbi Elie Dahan said, “I arrived from Lille and was walking in the Paris station when the man, who was accompanied by a woman, looked at me and cried: dirty Jew, you are looking at me, I will punch you, dirty Jew," Dahan recounted. "He then punched me before running away.”

An anti-Semitic birthday card in France

Roger Cukierman, President of CRIF, has written to the CEO of the national Postal Service to inform him that offensive animated birthday cards have gone on sale in country’s post offices; against a backdrop of dollar bills, a grossly caricatured picture and soundtrack of a Jewish figure shows his penchant for miserliness.
The anti-Semitic cliché of the miserly rich Jew shown on these cards has motivated the President of CRIF to ask that they be withdrawn from sale.

French humor

This is pretty amusing although I don't think it was meant to be. From Reuters:

A French paper accused of insulting Muslims by printing cartoons of Mohammad surprised a court hearing on Wednesday with a letter of support from presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy.

"I prefer an excess of caricatures to an absence of caricatures," Sarkozy, the conservative interior minister who helped launch the French Muslim Council, wrote in a letter read out by a lawyer for the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

The letter from the presidential frontrunner, whose ministry is also responsible for religious affairs, drew an angry response from one of three Muslim groups suing the weekly.

Uh-oh, you better watch out, Sarkozy, you might ignite more Islamo-rage. (As if Muslims in France needed an excuse to torch their neighborhoods.)

France and Spain Bid to "Legalize" Hamas

Folks, France and Spain are working towards removing Hamas from the EU's list of terror organizations, the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported Sunday.

Folks, I am going to ask YOU to morally weigh these Hamas attacks:

1 June 2001 genocide bombing of a Tel Aviv discotheque, murdering 21 people, and wounding 120;

9 August 2001 genocide bombing of a Jerusalem restaurant, murdering 15 people, and wounding 130;

1 December 2001 double genocide bombing on Ben Yehuda Street pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, murdering
11 people, and wounding 188;

2 December 2001 genocide bombing of a #16 bus in Haifa, murdering 15 people, and wounding 40;

9 March 2002 genocide bombing of a Jerusalem cafe, murdering 11 people, and wounding 54;

27 March 2002 genocide bombing of a Netanya hotel on first night of Passover, murdering 30 people, and wounding 140;

18 June 2002 genocide bombing of a #32A bus in Jerusalem, murdering 19 people, and wounding 74;

4 August 2002 genocide bombing of #361 bus at Meron junction, murdering nine people, and wounding 50;

21 November 2002 genocide bombing of a #20 bus in Jerusalem, murdering 11 people, and wounding 50;

5 March 2003 genocide bombing of a #37 bus in Haifa, murdering 17 people, and wounding 53;

18 May 2003 genocide bombing of a #6 bus in Jerusalem, murdering 7 people, and wounding 20;

11 June 2003 genocide bombing of #14A bus in Jerusalem, murdering 11 people, and wounding over 100;

19 August 2003 genocide bombing of a #2 bus in Jerusalem, murdering 23 people, and wounding over 130;

9 September 2003 genocide bombing of a Jerusalem cafe, murdering seven people, and wounding 70;

29 January 2004 genocide bombing of a #19 bus in Jerusalem, murdering 11 people, and wounding 44.

I await your responses.

France and Spain Bid to "Legalize" Hamas