Jean-Marie Le Pen dies at 96

The French politician who was sadly one of the most antisemitic creeps of his time has died at age 96:

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the former leader of the French National Front party, presidential candidate, member of the European Parliament, and patriarch of the Le Pen political family dynasty, has died at the age of 96.

A figure who loomed large over French politics over the past five decades, Mr Le Pen was hailed Tuesday by his supporters as a fearless “patriot” and derided by his detractors as a fascist and an antisemite.

Tragically, he was. And despite any claims to the contrary, he wasn't really opposed to Islam any more than Jean-Luc Melanchon was. As a result, his supposed opposition to mass migration was all a sham, and besides, when somebody like that gets chummy with despots like the late Saddam Hussein, something is terribly wrong.

In a moment of historical coincidence, Le Pen’s death was announced on the day that France marked the tenth anniversary of the Islamist attack on the offices of the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine, in which two Algerian jihadists shot and killed 12 people and injured 11 more in reprisal for the magazine publishing a caricature of Mohammed.

After reiterating his belief that the Holocaust was a “detail” in 2015, the party he founded voted to expel him, and two years later, his daughter Marine Le Pen renamed the party to the National Rally (Rassemblement National) in a bid to distance herself and the party from her father’s legacy. Their relationship never fully recovered after the split.

While he cast the move as politically suicidal, Marine Le Pen has grown the party to the largest in the French parliament. She currently stands as the frontrunner to replace Emmanuel Macron as president of the republic when his second and final term ends in 2027. [...]

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said that “respect for the dignity of the dead and the grief of their loved ones does not erase the right to judge their actions,” accusing Le Pen of spreading “hatred, racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism.”

Also notice how Melenchon repeats the morally equivalent cliche of blurring the difference between "islamophobia" and antisemitism, which he himself has been just as guilty of. There's just no excuse.

Julian Jackson notes how Jean-Marie Le Pen did little more than poison French/European politics, and unfortunately, he did do only so much to damage efforts to oppose the spread of Islamofascism. I seriously doubt he even wanted to defend Charlie Hebdo's own freedom of speech. He won't be missed, and it's to be hoped his departure will help improve the landscape again one day.

Miriam Libicki still retains her far-left positions

I'd noted before that the comics artist Libicki, whom VanCAF had to apologize to for nearly banning from their convention, was far-left, and in the following news from Stir, it appears she's still sticking by her positions that're damaging to Israel, regrettably enough, while promoting another GN she's been working on:

Following the incident, the American-Israeli graphic novelist is using her heightened profile to raise funds for The Mother’s Call, a collaboration of women peace advocates in Palestine and Israel.

Well if this is correct, she - and the magazine - are continuing the notion of legitimizing the fabrication of an Arab/Islamic state called "Palestine", and quite possibly not acknowledging that it's a name the Roman empire gave to the land to belittle it. So, while what VanCAF did was offensive, how beyond this can I really care about Libicki if she's not going to reevaluate her politics and whether it's healthy to take up such ideologies to begin with?

In a phone call with Stir, Libicki explained that she had exhibited at every Vancouver Comic Arts Festival since 2012 until 2022, when two members of the public confronted festival volunteers about her inclusion. “There was no confrontation at my table, but they complained to the show in a very hostile and discomforting manner,” she recalled. “They were complaining that I was a Zionist and it was Zionist propaganda, and I shouldn’t be allowed to exhibit at the show.” Libicki said she was told that the pair would be banned from attending the festival in the future.

On this, a vital point must be made there's antisemites out there who don't give a damn how far-left a person of Israeli descent could lean; they'll consider them scum anyway. That said, people like Libicki most likely don't respect the meaning of "zion", which is simply a synonym for Israel, and even nationalism/patriotism. Interesting how the 2 people spoken of aren't identified clearly. Were they Moslems obsessed with antisemitic viewpoints? If Stir omitted any details themselves, that's wrong, but if Libicki did too, that's also troubling.

In 2023, Libicki said, she missed the initial call for applications, and was turned down for an exhibition table by organizers who said they needed to review the previous year’s incident. This year, Libicki said organizers initially refused her a table, but finally agreed that she could attend if she exhibited only But I Live. “I was okay with that because I do know that this year things are different,” she said.

And what does that mean? That her GN about army service is taboo? Well that too is wrong, because it's also a form of censorship. If she or anybody else wanted to publish and exhibit a GN about Islamic terrorism, all of a sudden, just like that, the subject is completely off limits in virtually every way? There's at least a few GNs from past years since 9-11 like Frank Miller's Holy Terror that're doubtless banned from these festivals, and it won't be a shock if openly right-wing writers are too. For all we know, Will Eisner's last GN, The Plot, will doubtless never be exhibited or spoken about at VanCAF so long as they keep this up, and if Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were still alive and said even one single word considered Wrongthink, they'd be banned too. Something tells me Libicki won't stand up for such folks either.

According to Libicki, this year’s show went without incident until half an hour before its closing, when she was approached by two people who began asking her questions about her work and her background. “They had the briefest interaction with me at my table…and then they enacted basically the exact same scene [as 2022] to volunteers and VanCAF staff and Roundhouse staff,” she said. “It was not a confrontation with me.”

Libicki said that she had no contact with VanCAF before the organization posted its “accountability statement” days later. “They never told us formally that there was a complaint against me. They never told me that I was banned before that announcement went up.”

Libicki said all her communications with VanCAF since May 25 have been through her lawyer: “When they took down the statement on Wednesday [May 29], that was after my lawyer sent them a letter. And when they put up the apology, they did run it by my lawyer first….The apology did not get any more personal to me than that.”

I get it, the attack came from behind the back (or more specifically, the scenes), which is surely even more cowardly. But anybody who thinks Libicki is worth supporting from a common sense perspective would do well to ponder the following, where she puts more of her leftism on display:

Libicki said she is now speaking out not just for herself, but to stand up for other individuals who may find themselves in similar crosshairs. “This could happen to anybody with some sort of identity that is politicized or politically marginalized,” she said. “It means that if somebody else decides your identity is a political problem, then we’re going to ban you instead of them. That could easily apply to, you know, a Palestinian person. It could have been a right-wing pro-Zionist activist who complained about a Palestinian person being there, and created a disturbance. Or, you know, famously in the U.S. and in our country, things like drag queen story hour—trans people and drag performers existing is a political problem for some people. So then they are called a safety hazard, when it's actually not them that is a safety hazard, it’s the people who decided that their identity is a political problem.”

Libicki said she has decided to use the attention the situation has brought her to raise money for peace activists in Israel and Palestine. She is selling a series of five watercolour artworks of seahorses, and will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to The Mothers’ Call, a grassroots collaboration between Women of The Sun in Palestine and Women Wage Peace in Israel.

“What I stand for is peace and justice, and that Israel and Palestine belongs to everyone who lives there, of all religions and backgrounds,” she said. “Maybe with all the added attention, maybe some of the pieces will sell, and I would then be able to send on the money, and it could be a good outcome.”

Wow, this is exactly what led to the October 7, 2023 massacre and the 2015 Bataclan bloodbath in the first place, to say nothing of moral equivalence espoused by somebody who clearly doesn't have the courage to discuss what the Islamic koran/hadith contain about Jews and anybody else considered an "infidel". Also intriguing is how she implies "right-wing pro-Zionist activists" are troublemakers, but not "Palestinians"? Regrettably, it appears she's sticking tight to her left-wing ideologies, right down to how she even drags the drag-queen and transsexual ideologies into this whole mess, and it strongly hints she doesn't have much respect for parents who find it all a horrible influence. Even the part about "peace and justice" is ambiguous, because if the Islamic religion advocates jihadism (religious/holy war), how can you just talk about peace so superficially? Does Libicki even believe in justice for Armenians, considering the tragedy they suffered at the hands of the Islamic Ottoman empire during WW1, and are still suffering now via Azerbaijan? Would she even work with 911 Families to develop a GN about their experiences and what led to the tragedy of the World Trade Center in 2001? Regrettably, if her viewpoints are any indication, chances of that are very slim.

In addition to raising money for The Mothers’ Call, Libicki is hoping that other organizations can learn from what she went through. “I do feel like what happened at VanCAF is something that could be a warning to other arts festivals about not losing their heads when somebody who they might happen to politically agree with has a bullying campaign against them,” she said. “There was a campaign in the week between the festival and when they put out that statement, where they were just being dogpiled by certain people, who were not a lot of people, but were just very loud. And then it was the added temptation of the fact that many of their politics, the people on the board happened to agree with. They couldn’t see that this was bullying tactics, and that the people who were calling for them to do things that were wrong and unfair and illegal. I think that's something that can happen and possibly has and is happening to other arts festivals and nonprofits. And so they should look at VanCAF as an object lesson in what not to do and why not to do it.”

Well is she and/or the festival going to support and invite any conservative/right-wing artists and writers in the future? Unfortunately, I have a sad feeling that won't be the case at all. What VanCAF did was wrong. But beyond that, any support I can offer Libicki will have to stop right then and there, because it's clear she's not willing to reevaluate her ultra-leftist standings, and is continuing with uninformed, narrow visions that have done more harm than good for Israel and other places in danger of Islamofascism. I just hope she's glad some more Israeli hostages have been rescued from Hamas captivity in Gaza. Yet if Libicki's rhetoric is any indication, she won't do any projects with hostages rescued from Islamic jihadists any more than she'd be willing to work with 911 Families and Bataclan survivors in France.

Armenian government selling out homeland and citizens to Azerbaijan, who may have incited riots in Nouvelle Caledonie

This news may be a few weeks old, but it's still very chilling, whether it already happened or not:

In early March 2024, Azerbaijan demanded that Armenia hand over eight villages along the two countries’ borders. To avoid a new war, Yerevan agreed to transfer four villages to Azerbaijani control; the border delimitation process is now underway. Local residents, however, oppose the decision; they want Armenia to refuse to concede any territory and have appealed to international human rights organizations for help. Photographer Egor Kirillov traveled to the border village of Kirants, which is still Armenian territory, to photograph residents’ fight against the transfer. [...]

“We’re losing our homeland. Every Armenian needs to understand: our old enemy, the one who committed genocide against us, could come knocking on any door at any moment,” local resident Mariam Simonyan told Meduza. Even if the protests don’t change anything, she wants her descendants to know that she opposed the land’s transfer to Azerbaijan.

Yikes. This is similar to how the Israeli Labor party originally surrendered parts of Judea/Samaria to the PLO over 30 years ago, and look where that got Israel on October 7, 2023. Now, Armenia's government is acting in pure cowardice, with the worst part being much of the world's turning a deaf ear and blind eye to this atrocity. This will lead to a horror story sooner or later. And the aforementioned coward Rachel Avraham will doubtless sugarcoat this awful news too.

Also eyebrow-raising is this news of France accusing Azerbaijan of being involved in riots on New Caledonia:

Days of clashes between demonstrators and police in French-controlled New Caledonia are fueled by foreign interference, Paris declared on Thursday, as local officials vowed to restore order in the South Pacific territory.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said that the violence, which has claimed the lives of three indigenous Kanak people and a police officer, had been actively supported by Azerbaijan.

“This isn’t a fantasy,” he insisted on Thursday. “I regret that some of the separatists have made a deal with Azerbaijan.” However, “even if there are attempts at interference, … France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better,” he added.

Speaking to POLITICO, a French intelligence official granted anonymity to discuss sensitive issues of national security, said that “we’ve detected activities from Russia and Azerbaijan in New Caledonia for weeks, even a few months. They’re pushing the narrative of France being a colonialist state.” [...]

Relations between France and Azerbaijan have hit rock bottom in recent years as a result of French military and political support for the South Caucasus country’s neighbor and historic rival Armenia — a situation only intensified by Baku’s military seizure of the ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

And no surprise Russia could be involved in this distraction either. This is similarly repellent news, and coupled with how Azerbaijan's even had jihadists coming from their territory, not to mention associated with the late Ebrahim Raisi, and Russia's made use of Iranian-manufactured weapons, it makes clear both countries are a very bad influence.

50 creators who worked on Batman call for release of Israeli infant hostage whose family wore T-shirts of the Masked Manhunter, & Doonesbury cartoonist depicts Hamas properly

Something most remarkable was performed by quite a few comics contributors, old and new, who've had writing/art/editing credits on Batman over past years, as the Times of Israel reports:

Fifty creators of the iconic Batman superhero character signed a petition urging the governments of Egypt and Qatar to press for the release of Yarden and Shiri Bibas along with their two red-haired sons, Ariel and Kfir. All four family members have been held hostage in Gaza since October 7.

The family was kidnapped from Nir Oz by Hamas terrorists on October 7, a day that saw 3,000 terrorists infiltrate southern Israel to massacre 1,200 Israelis — most of them civilians — and kidnap 253 people into the Strip. Mother Shiri and her sons were captured separately from her husband Yarden.

One of the iconic images of the family that has been circulated since their capture shows the four wearing Batman apparel. Ariel, 4, is a dedicated fan of the Gotham City protector.

The petition was sent to Egyptian and Qatari ambassadors in Washington, DC, on April 12. The effort was organized by Dr. Rafael Medoff, historian and director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies.

“These comics creators have spent decades developing a hero who fights for the innocent and stands as a beacon of hope for his community, and we’re trying to channel that spirit through this effort,” Medoff told The Times of Israel. [...]

Some of the Bibas petition’s high-profile signees include Mike Carlin, DC’s head of animation; longtime DC publisher Paul Levitz; and former president of Warner Animation Sander Schwartz.

The petition was also signed by some of Batman’s veteran writers, including Chip Zdansky and Mark Waid. Leading artists from the franchise who signed include Mark Bagley, Dan Jurgens, Denys Cowan and Amanda Conner, the celebrated artist behind the Joker’s girlfriend, Harley Quinn.

“As members of the community of Batman writers and artists, we are contacting you concerning the young Batman fan who was taken hostage by terrorists and held in Gaza since last October 7,” said the creators.

“Moved by the many anecdotes of Ariel’s affection for the iconic character who has become a symbol of hope and justice for so many, we implore your governments to exercise all possible leverage on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to immediately release the Bibas family, and all the Israeli hostages, from captivity,” said the petition.

Well this definitely is amazing, considering how quite a few of these same creators, even the veterans, have taken such a lenient position on Islam in the past, and on that note, maybe it'd be a good idea to remind everyone why they still have fences to mend, and not just in the sense they've acted as apologists for the Religion of Peace in some way or other.

For example, Levitz, when he was in charge of DC comics, vehemently refused to greenlight Frank Miller's story that later became Holy Terror, yet Levitz had no issue going ahead with a collaboration with the Kuwaiti publishers of a propaganda comic called The 99. Waid was once involved in the writing of the storylines that led to Age of Apocalypse in X-Men, which drew a bizarre moral equation between Israel's officials and the PLO. Zdarsky's quite a woke leftist ideologue himself, as is writer Andrew Farago, the museum curator who attacked Comicsgate and blocks even Jewish X posters who could support the hashtag. Jurgens once wrote an apologia tale for Islam in the pages of Superman, as did Mike Grell in Iron Man during the early 2000s, and should it be mentioned it's ludicrous and offensive how a lethal villainess like Harley Quinn is being depicted with a Jewish background? After all, chances they'd do something similar with a Moslem character are next to nothing.

The writers who signed onto Wyman Institute's petition who do impress me more are Chuck Dixon, Ann Nocenti and even Steve Englehart. The latter 2 are leftist, to my knowledge, but unlike a lot of modern ones, seem to recognize the advantage of avoiding divisive statements, on social media or otherwise.

No stranger to Batman lore, Medoff penned an essay for a book called “Theology and Batman.” One of the book’s central themes is the theodicy — or sense of redemption — Batman brings to the world by vindicating goodness over evil.

Many of the creators of Batman, Superman and other superheroes were of Jewish descent. Quite a few books and essays have been written about how these creators were influenced by Jewish history while at their drawing boards.

Yes, but whatever the background of the creators, those of more recent times aren't exactly helping matters, if the latter of these 2 examples says something:

Earlier in 2024, an issue of DC’s “The Penguin” remembered that Bruce Wayne — Batman’s alter-ego — is Jewish. The moment came when Bruce Wayne referenced his handkerchief as being a Hanukkah gift from his father to his mother.

In a “Batwoman” reboot released in 2006, the character Kate Kane — Batwoman’s alter-ego — was reintroduced as a Jewish, lesbian cousin of Batman, demonstrating how comic artists both shape and reflect their times.

And they don't think this is even remotely insulting to the intellect the Kane character's depicted as lesbian solely for woke brownie points? And implying Wayne could have some Jewish ancestry (in some past renditions, it was established his ancestry was from Scotland), will not work if the writing is as woke as it's become lately. To imply Bruce is even bisexual only damages the character's image/reputation all the more, and is an embarrassment to Bill Finger and Bob Kane's legacy. Let us be clear. Those writers and artists who've joined Dr. Medoff's petition did the right thing. But unless they can prove they're repentant, and writers like Jurgens and Grell won't boomerang back on apologia for Islam tomorrow, what good is this project going to do in the long run? Add to this the unlikely scenario any of these creators will show the courage and altruism to work on a comics project tackling Islamic terrorism, and that's another frustrating issue right there.

Besides the above news, Dr. Medoff tells on Israel National News how Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Truedeau's acknowledged that Hamas is evil, and mocked them in his newspaper strips:

One of America’s most beloved newspaper comic strips has dared to poke fun at Hamas. Get ready for controversy!

In the latest Sunday installment of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Doonesbury strip, a fictional anti-terrorist fighter—known as “the Red Rascal”—bursts into the bedroom of an actual Hamas leader, Ismail Haniye, who is living in Qatar.

The cartoon shows Haniyeh enjoying luxurious accommodations, and identifies him as “one of three Hamas leaders worth billions, who enriched themselves with donor money intended for impoverished Gazans!”

Garry Trudeau, the writer and artist of Doonesbury, has dared to acknowledge a fact about the Hamas leadership that most of the mainstream news media prefer to ignore. [...]

What makes this Doonesbury strip even more interesting is that Trudeau has been strongly critical of Israel in the past. His view of Hamas is not motivated by any kind of built-in pro-Israel bias.

Not only that, but Trudeau has been extra sensitive concerning Muslim reactions to controversial cartoons, such as the one about Mohammed that was published in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015. Islamist terrorists responded to that cartoon by massacring twelve members of the magazine’s staff.

Trudeau accused Charlie Hebdo of engaging in “hate speech.” He argued that the magazine's publication of the cartoon was unjustified because it constituted "attacking a powerless, disenfranchised minority."

But the Doonesbury creator can’t count on any of his past statements to protect him from a furious reaction to his criticism of Hamas. Pro-Hamas extremists in the United States are not known for their ability to calmly and rationally discuss differing points of view—especially when somebody reveals uncomfortable facts about their heroes.

Obviously, it's to be unfortunately expected Islam's sympathisers will react poorly and horrifically. Why, they could act the same way towards any and all of the above Batman contributors, and that too will be terrible, if God forbid it happens. Of course, one must wonder at this point if creators like Trudeau are repentant for the harm they caused by blaming the victims in horrible incidents like that in France. If not, then while it's amazing on the surface he'd attack Hamas as the evil entity they are, any failure to acknowledge he was wrong to blame Charlie Hebdo and other victims of Islamofascism in France ruins everything. I do vaguely recall at least a few Doonesbury strips that were negative to Israel, and so it sure has taken Trudeau a lot of time to show the courage to acknowledge that jihadist organizations like Hamas and PLO are barbaric evil incarnate.

So far, if there's one notable name connected with Batman stories whom I couldn't find on the Wyman petition, it's Frank Miller. How odd. Is he really that stupidly regretful for penning Holy Terror back in 2011 that he doesn't have the guts to participate in a project like Medoff's now? Well it's honestly disgraceful, IMO. Come to think of it, when even far-leftists like Kurt Busiek, Ron Marz, Dan DiDio, Joe Quesada, Gail Simone and Axel Alonso can't even contribute, that too has got to be saying something. This isn't just something that should involved Batman contributors, but all sorts of comics creators, even those more into independent productions. I'd strongly suggest Medoff try to contact them as well, and try to convince them to put aside all their vehement leftism and recognize why the message he's sending here is important for all to uphold, not just anybody who's worked on the Masked Manhunter. Calling for release of the hostages - many of whom have doubtless been subjected to torture and sexual violence - is surely the most important part of this whole tragedy.

6 teenagers in France convicted for roles in Islamist murder of Samuel Paty

Six teenagers have been convicted for the role they played in the jihadist murder of the teacher Samuel Paty, all because he wanted to discuss the monster known as Muhammed:

A French juvenile court on Friday convicted six teenagers for their roles in the 2020 beheading of a teacher by an Islamic extremist, an attack that shocked the country and shone a light on the real-world dangers of online hate speech.

Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed near his school after showing his class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a debate on free expression. Attacker Abdoullakh Anzorov, a young Chechen who had become radicalized, was killed by police.

The court found five of the defendants, who were 14 and 15 at the time of the attack, guilty of involvement in staking out the teacher and identifying him for the attacker. The sixth defendant, 13 at the time, was found guilty of lying about the classroom debate in comments that aggravated online anger against the teacher.

But here's the bad news:

One was given a six-month prison term but allowed to serve under house arrest with an electronic bracelet. The others were given special suspended sentences of between two and three years requiring them to stay in school or jobs. The sentences included special educative follow-up measures that also involved their families.

Lawyers for Paty’s family decried the sentences as too lenient. [...]

And they're correct. They should be tried as adults, if they weren't, and in any event, this marks another judicial embarrassment where the establishment is trying to dodge serious responsibility.

Muslim rapists in France target elderly women

Here's a horrifying example (via Jihad Watch) of how even older women aren't immune to sexual violence by younger men, here being Muslim migrants in France:

Multiple reports of rapes and attempted rapes by migrants living in France have made local headlines as the continued dramatic rise in sexual assaults and mass immigration shows an undeniable correlation.

French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Friday the demise of a 67-year-old woman who was accosted outside her home in Versailles by an Algerian national on Wednesday evening and then carried forcefully into her home, where she suffered a night of excruciating torture.

The elderly woman was tied up, beaten, and raped by the migrant before successfully fleeing the home and taking refuge with a neighbor who contacted the authorities.

The suspect was arrested the following day after being caught on video surveillance footage at the scene. An Algerian national of no fixed abode, he was found in possession of the victim’s identity documents, bank card, and various stolen jewelry. It was later reported that the man had been the subject of an unenforced deportation order since February 2022.

He offered only a “no comment” to the police following his arrest and reportedly fell asleep in his chair during questioning.

It goes without saying that was pure contempt he displayed during interrogation, and worst is that it was throughly expected such a monster could do something like that. This is another example of what a fiasco the country's become because of all the kowtowing to violent ideologies at all costs, and how it's all come at the expense of women, children and Jews in the process.

In France, anybody who protests against Muslim violence and calls for self-defense can be arrested

We have another example of how, in a way, France is tragically under a totalitarian grip doing favors for the Religion of Peace, and authorities arrest opponents over an Orwellian Thoughtcrime (via Jihad Watch):

After a migrant allegedly raped a French woman so brutally with a broomstick that she was forced into a month-long coma, two dozen right-wing protestors marched outside his home in Cherbourg, France. However, at least half of them are now facing criminal prosecution and up to five years in prison for an “unauthorized gathering” and for “promoting self-defense” despite the French government’s glaring inability to protect its own citizens.

The demonstration, which took place on Sept. 9, 2023, in the Provinces district, was on behalf of 29-year-old Mégane, who awoke from her coma but remains between life and death. The French government may have special reason to pursue Argos, the right-wing group that organized the protest, as the group is the direct heir to the French group Génération identitaire, which was banned by the government in 2021. Génération identitaire became a thorn in the government’s side after it ran a series of civil disobedience protests against the state of demographic transformation in France and the government’s failures to control illegal immigration.

[...] The prosecutor in the case is apparently taking issue with the group’s calls for self-defense, despite the state being increasingly unable to defend its citizens.

“You are appearing for having, through speeches made at an undeclared demonstration, incited willful harm to a person’s integrity by calling for self-defense,” stated Pierre-Yves Marot, the public prosecutor. He announced that five members of Argos were first arrested by the police and another seven were taken into custody inside a vehicle shortly afterwards.

The prosecutor should be utterly ashamed of himself, as should all police officials who arrested these brave opposition activists. All authorities who went against the protestors, including Generation Identitaire, instead of the jihadists who've poisoned France, should resign from the jobs they don't deserve.

But I also think even Israeli delegates concerned about what goes on in foreign countries should consider speaking out in favor of the opposition to Islamofascism in said foreign lands, because there's Europeans who need all the help they can get, and if Israeli representatives were to speak in their defense, it could be very important.

Syrian "refugee" in French Alps stabbed children in Annecy

More tragedies come as the result of allowing Islamofascists into Europe, with this horrifying case that took place in Annecy:

A Syrian asylum seeker has reportedly been arrested on suspicion of stabbing four children at a play park in the French Alps.

The man allegedly attacked the children, who were aged about three years, and an adult in French city of Annecy at 9.45am on Thursday.

Two of the children and an adult sustained life-threatening injuries. [...]

The suspect was arrested by police soon afterwards following a brief struggle close to the park, which is in a square in the Alpine town, The Sun reports.

The knifeman was identified by the French Interior Ministry as Abdalmasih H., aged 32.

“He arrived in France in 2022, and had refugee status,” said a spokesman.

An eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said: …“He wanted to hurt as many people as he could. He caused carnage." [...]

Meanwhile, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Laurent Wauquiez tweeted: “Horror again. This attack on children is the height of the abomination.”

“I extend my full support to the victims and their families."

Robert Spencer says Laurent Waquiez, who serves as the head of the region where this tragedy took place, allowed such monsters to interlope. So what's the use of his offering condolences if in the end, he won't take any proper action to ensure they don't enter anymore? This is very serious, and people are going to have to mobilize to demand action to expel these jihadists from the country.

French teacher was subjected to death threat over Mohammed cartoons

In France, another teacher had death threats made against him, and it's fortunate the Muslim daughter and father who committed the crime were arrested:

A teacher in a French high school was subjected to death threats after discussing freedom of expression and cartoons of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, leading to the arrest of a student and her uncle, in a case redolent of the death of Samuel Paty.

The teacher addressed his class in Éragny, in the Val-d’Oise department near Paris earlier this month on the subject of freedom of expression and cartoons of the prophet Mohammed which allegedly angered a 15-year-old female student in his class.

The teen later spoke to her uncle who arrived at the school in the late afternoon and verbally attacked the teacher, invoking teacher Samuel Paty who was beheaded in the street by a Chechen refugee in October of 2020 after showing cartoons of Mohammed to his class, Le Figaro reports.

The teacher later reported the thinly veiled death threat to police, who arrested the teen and her uncle and a judicial investigation was opened into the pair last Friday.

Since then the teen has been accused of apology for terrorism and her uncle has been indicted for death threats, according to the prosecutor of the Republic of Mulhouse, Edwige Roux-Morizot.

This would not be acceptable in the USA either, and tragically, there are monsters in north America who've committed similar behavior to the Muslim father and daughter over in France. Those who commit such acts should not be allowed to continue in public schools, or any public square, for that matter.

Jihad In Paris

The unfolding of a new model for jihad: striking multiple and proximate soft targets simultaneously.

Islamic terrorism in the City of Lights.

Multiple sites attacked.

Hostages held and being murdered one by one in Bataclan, the concert hall.

National borders closed.

France in a state of national emergency.

Fox News is reporting that a suspect arrested has told the police, "I am from ISIS." He has also said that he is from Syria and is on a mission for ISIS. This is the only arrest so far reported.

More coverage at France 24 and BBC News

UPDATE : Reliapundit:

This was a Mumbai/Nairobi style urban attack.

I expect we shall be seeing more of this all over Europe, and in the USA...

Targets selected because they are crowded and soft...

5 FOOLISH SOMALI PIRATES CAPTURED AFTER MISTAKING FRENCH NAVY SHIP FOR COMMERCIAL

Somali jihadist pirates return to the news with the following:

PARIS (AP) - Somali pirates in two skiffs fired on a French navy vessel early Wednesday after apparently mistaking it for a commercial boat, the French military said. The French ship gave chase and captured five suspected pirates.

No one was wounded by the volleys from the Kalashnikov rifles directed at La Somme, a 3,800-ton refueling ship, French military spokesman Rear Adm. Christophe Prazuck said.

La Somme "was probably taken for a commercial ship by the two small skiffs" about 250 nautical miles (290 statute miles) off Somalia's coast, Prazuck said.

"They understood their mistake too late," he said.

One skiff fled, and La Somme pursued the second one in an hour-long chase.

"There were five suspected pirates on board. No arms, no water, no food," Prazuck said.

Uh, earth to AP, you might want to correct that likely miscontexting there. Those crappy pirates DID have arms in the form of Kalashnikovs.

France is a key member of the EU's naval mission, Operation Atalanta, fighting Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. It has aggressively tracked and caught suspected pirates and handed over at least 22 to Kenya. An additional 15 suspects were brought to France for prosecution after allegedly seizing boats belonging to French nationals.

President Nicolas Sarkozy called for tougher action against piracy last year after dozens of attacks.

Now, lock those pirates up and send them to a psychiatrist.

BURQUINI WEARER BANNED FROM FRENCH SWIMMING POOL

Here's a sign of anti-dhimmitude in Paris at the poolside:

PARIS – A Muslim woman who tried to go swimming in a head-to-toe "burquini" has been banned from her local pool in the latest tussle between religious practices and secular authority in France.

Officials on Wednesday insisted they banned the woman's use of the Islam-friendly swimsuit because of France's unusually strict hygiene standards in pools — not because of official hostility to wearing overtly Muslim garb.

Under the policy, swimmers are prevented from wearing any street-compatible or baggy clothing, such as Bermuda shorts, in favor of figure-hugging suits.

The woman, a 35-year-old convert to Islam identified only as Carole, complained of religious discrimination after trying to go swimming in her burquini in the Paris suburb of Emerainville.

She was quoted as telling the daily Le Parisien newspaper that she had bought the burquini after deciding "it would allow me the pleasure of bathing without showing too much of myself, as Islam recommends."

"For me this is nothing but segregation," she added.

Look who's talking! Someone who not only has the disgrace to convert to a religion that would see her as inferior, but who, if it were up to people like her, would ban non-Muslims from the pool, and even segregate the two sexes.

The issue of religious attire is a hot topic in France, where head-to-toe burqas or other full-body coverings worn by Muslim fundamentalists are in official disfavor.

French lawmakers recently proposed a ban on the burqa and other voluminous Muslim attire. President Nicolas Sarkozy backs the move, saying such clothing makes women prisoners.

But Daniel Guillaume, a regional official in charge of swimming pools, said Carole's poolside rebuff had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with public health standards.

He said swimmers throughout France must wear special clothes to the pool, whereas a burquini could be worn all day long, collecting everything from food spills to sweat along the way.

"These clothes are used in public, so they can contain molecules, viruses, et cetera, which will go in the water and could be transmitted to other bathers," Guillaume said in a telephone interview.

"We reminded this woman that one should not bathe all dressed, just as we would tell someone who is a nudist not to bathe all naked," he said.

Guillaume said France's public health standards require all pool-goers to don appropriate attire — swimsuits for women and tight, swim-specific briefs for men — and caps to cover their hair. Bathers also must shower before entering the water.

Guillaume said Carole had tried to file a complaint at a local police station, but her request was turned down as groundless.

Carole told the daily Le Parisien she would protest with the help of anti-discrimination groups.

The Associated Press could not reach the woman for comment Wednesday.

I must say, their health concerns are impressive, and to be sure, make a lot of sense. Kudos for standing by them. However, they're going to have to be prepared for any "anti-discrimination" groups that might now rear their ugly heads. A good way to counter that would be a solidarity show with the pool business by locals who care about freedom.

14 CULPRITS IN HALIMI CASE TO BE RETRIED

The trial of the gang members who savagely murdered Ilan Halimi resulted in the repulsive leader being sentenced to life, but several others only got minor sentences. Luckily, they're going to be retried now:

(IsraelNN.com) Fourteen of those convicted in the brutal slaying of young French Jew Ilan Halimi will face an appeal for increased jail terms. The appeal was granted following intervention from Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie.

Some French jurists protested the move, and accused Alliot-Marie of giving in to political pressure.

A court had sentenced two people who took part in holding Halimi captive and torturing him to between 15 and 18 years in prison, while a woman who lured Halimi to within kidnappers' reach was sentenced to nine years. Prosecutors had requested that the attackers be sentenced to 20 and 12 years respectively.

Several members of the gang that carried out the murder were sentenced to as few as six months in prison.

French Jews demonstrated Monday against the verdict, and demanded a public retrial. The original trial was closed to journalists because some of the defendants were minors.

There has to be a clear law in France that makes it possible to try savages like those as adults. Oh, and just who are those jurors who're trying to undermine justice? They ought to stand trial just as well!

NOBODY ASKED YOU, SARKOZY

I've usually been unsure if I should take issue with anything negative the French president's done, though I realize he's as capable as any other politician, but here, it seems he did something considered an attempt to intervene in another country's personal politics: he asked for foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman to be replaced with Tzipi Livni:

(Israelnationalnews.com) During their meeting last week in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to replace Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman with opposition leader Tzipi Livni. Netanyahu's office declined comment, but the Foreign Ministry response was less diplomatic.

"With her and [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak you can make history," Sarkozy told Netanyahu, according to a Monday night report on Israel TV's Channel 2 News. "I have always accepted Israeli foreign ministers, and I loved to have Tzipi Livni here at the Elysee [Palace], but with [Lieberman] I can't." The French leader allegedly also made a dismissive hand gesture when mentioning the Israeli Foreign Minister. Livni, he added, made a strategic mistake in refusing to join Netanyahu's cabinet.

In addition to Netanyahu, three Israeli officials reportedly heard the undiplomatic statements by Sarkozy.

[...]

In a statement from the Foreign Ministry Monday night, officials insisted, "We expect every political institution in Israel to condemn this blatant intervention of a foreign country in our private affairs, no matter what its political stance."

Minister of National Infrastructure Uzi Landau, a leader in Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu party, reacted to the Channel 2 report on Tuesday morning in an interview on IDF Radio.

"It's difficult for me to believe that a leader of a friendly country could make such remarks," Landau said, "but were I the Prime Minister, and such comments were made in my presence, I would bang on the table and object. That's how a prime minister should conduct himself to defend his country's honor."

I wonder what Sarkozy would say if he knew that Ehud Barak refused to recommend Livni for a PM candidate when Shimon Peres asked what the Labor party thought? What Sarkozy has done is and should be an embarrassment. If the objections are made loud enough, he'll certainly have to quiet down and avoid making foolish arguments like that again.

OBAMA DEBASES NORMANDY

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., is an arrogant, pompous, anti-American charlatan and thug.

John Romano @ Big Hollywood explains how the interloping socialist has made odd demands to the French government regarding his inherently dis-respectful presence at this years Normandy, D-Day Celebration:

A lot of the difference, the change if you will, between Obama and Bush has much to do with the word humility.

George Bush is and was a humble man. Obama thinks the world counts on him and him alone to lead us. Bush went to church and prayed often. Obama puts out press releases about his supposed piety. The left sold a great bill of goods to the American people claiming that Bush, et al. were arrogant while insisting that Obama was a “man of the people.”

The 65th Anniversary of D-Day is fast approaching. Barack Obama will attend the events on June 6th as George Bush did in 2004 for the sixtieth memorial service. Here is the rub, as of now Obama’s State Department has asked (read demanded) the French government not allow tour guide services to operate that day. It is a big day for Normandy tourism. Yet, the king will not allow those not connected with government to enjoy the day. Obama is very important you know. This is an unprecedented request. I hope the French come to their senses and deny it.

Compare that with 2004. Security was tight as President Bush and other world leaders were in attendance, but the event was still open to all. A friend relayed the story of waiting in line to use a port-a-potty (a French port-a-potty no doubt, yuck, believe me.) She looks to her left and who he is in the next line waiting patiently? President Bush. Sure he had Secret Service nearby, but he waited like everyone else.
Contrast that with Team Obama not even allowing regular people near Colleville-Sur-Mer that day. A shame indeed. Especially as the last of our WW II vets are expiring.

As the Bamsters unemployment rate pushes 10% (double the Bush average) and his 3.5 trillion dollar budget breaks the USA (the press of course focuses on his 17 billion in “savings.” Way to go 4th Estate.), Obama has more to worry about then denying people the right to attend a memorial service on June 6th.

It’s as if Obama has to let it be known that he is more important than honoring the events and the 9,387 mostly young Americans who died invading Normandy 65 years ago. Will Obama apologize for American actions during WW II at the event? (Read entire article)

Photo below courtesy of Roddh FlickR

MURDERERS OF ILAN HALIMI GO ON TRIAL

The savage Islamic gang that murdered French Jew Ilan Halimi is now standing trial in France today. However, there are problems here: the trial is being held behind closed doors, which has rightfully angered the mother of the man who was murdered:

It is scheduled to be held behind closed doors at a juvenile court, because two of the 27 gang members allegedly behind Halimi's murder were minors at the time of the act.

French law allows for a public trial to be held in certain cases where juveniles are involved.

A public trial should help better understand the criminal machine, to make parents and teenagers reflect. It’s the law of silence that killed her son, it would be unbearable for the trial to remain silent,” Francis Szpyner, lawyer of Ruth Halimi, said.

They're right, this is something that the wider public needs to be aware of too, because it can extend to and endanger them as well. Clearly, the law is afraid to deal with this out in the open. Until this can be resolved, I hope that the defendants will all shrivel up and die in prison for the rest of their phony lives.

PHILLIPE KARSENTY ASKS FOR SARKO'S INTERVENTION IN AL-DURAH HOAX CASE

Phillipe Karsenty, who led the way in unmasking the Mohammed al-Durah blood libel as a hoax, is going to press on for French president Nicholas Sarkozy to get France 2 to apologize:

Despite the fact that the 41-year-old French Jew won a major court battle earlier this year against the France 2 television station, Karsenty told a local audience that he would press on until French President Nicholas Sarkozy intervenes and orders the station to apologize.

He's right, the crappy TV station should be pressed to apologize and confess - in public, and if Charles Enderlin hasn't been fired, he should be. Why, he should be practically ostracized everywhere and anywhere for his role in the blood libel.

SARKOZY: OBAMA'S AN EMPTY SUIT ON FOREIGN POLICY

French president Nicholas Sarkozy has summed up the problems with Barack Obama's foreign policy positions (Hat tip: Hot Air):

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is very critical of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama’s positions on Iran, according to reports that have reached Israel’s government.

Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France. But according to a senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate’s stance on Iran as “utterly immature” and comprised of “formulations empty of all content.”

Obama visited Paris in July, and the Iranian issue was at the heart of his meeting with Sarkozy. At a joint press conference afterward, Obama urged Iran to accept the West’s proposal on its nuclear program, saying that Iran was creating a serious situation that endangered both Israel and the West. According to the reports reaching Israel, Sarkozy told Obama at that meeting that if the new American president elected in November changed his country’s policy toward Iran, that would be “very problematic.”

Wow. Now that's saying something. Indeed it would be a problem, since no way is Iran going to cease their nuclear warfare building by just asking them.

On France24 Television news, they tried to make it sound as though Europe prefers Obama. This should prove otherwise, and it's also a very good warning of some of the things that could go wrong under an Obama-led government.

SEMTEX EXPLOSIVE MISSING

(Hat-tip to Bob McCarty Writes)

Check out this BBC News article:

French search for stolen Semtex

French anti-terrorist officers are searching for 28kg (61lb) of Semtex explosive missing from a depot in the suburbs of the city of Lyon.

France's interior ministry confirmed an investigation was underway, saying the manager of the site had been suspended.

Semtex is a powerful explosive favoured by terrorist groups as it is odourless and difficult to detect.

Police said detonators were also missing and that they are treating the theft "very seriously".

The depot, in a disused 19th century fort at Corbas, is used for storing explosives by a civil defence unit charged with the job of blowing up bombs and ammunition left over from the two world wars.

Police said the discovery that the Semtex was missing was made on Friday but admitted the explosives could have been taken up to a week ago.

In a statement released late on Friday the interior ministry said there had been "security failings" which had made the theft possible.

Police sources have declined to confirm a newspaper website report which said that the store had been unguarded.

Semtex, which was first made in the Czech Republic, is used in mining and demolition work.

A bomb containing about half a kilogram of the explosive caused the blast which brought down Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, killing 270 people.

See Bob's posting to find out why the story caught his eye!

FRENCH-JEWISH COMMUNITY DEMANDS AL-DURAH PROBE

The JTA reports that the Jewish community in France is demanding a probe of the al-Durah case by the president's office.

Paris ( JTA) -- The organized Jewish community in France is publicly calling on President Nicolas Sarkozy to launch an investigation into the controversial television broadcast of an alleged Israeli shooting of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy.

Last week’s call by CRIF, the umbrella Jewish organization, increased the pressure on the French government to intervene in the 8-year-old debate over the authenticity of the September 2000 video report by France 2 TV and its Jerusalem correspondent, Charles Enderlin.

The call for a probe lent new legitimacy to concerns that the broadcast was staged and sparked a new debate in the French media over the issue.

The video helped fan the flames of the second Palestinian uprising and spurred anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment across the globe.

What the president should do is whatever possible to see to it that Enderlin is fired for aiding and abetting propaganda. He does not deserve his job, and should be removed for his crime.

I recommend to read also Melanie Phillips' article for Standpoint, one of the few articles on the subject to appear in the British press, if at all, which also tells quite a bit of interesting things.