Posted on 04/29/2002 2:18:57 AM PDT by kattracks
France can hardly contain its contempt for that muscle-bound naif, the American hyperpower, stomping around the world in search of "evildoers." The French roll their eyes at such primitive moralism, so devoid of Gallic nuance.
How inconvenient, then, that the same French put on the presidential ballot Jean-Marie Le Pen, the modern incarnation of European fascism. No matter. This will not restrain French intellectuals and foreign ministers from lecturing America on its simplisme — its preference for morality over realpolitik, its reliance on military power, fantasies about an "axis of evil" and, perhaps most unbearable, its principled support for Israel.
Israel — that "shitty little country," as the French ambassador to Britain recently said at a London dinner party. "Why should we be in danger of World War III because of those people?" the ambassador asked.
This contemptuous sneer at "those people" occasioned a minor scandal. No, the scandal was not the ambassador's statement, but the hostess' indiscretion in revealing it — and then adding how utterly commonplace the sentiment had become in London's better circles.
And not just among the cocktail set. The European street has lately been expressing itself on the subject. In France, synagogues have been burned and Jewish youths attacked. In Belgium, two synagogues were fire-bombed, a third sprayed with bullets. A Berlin police official advised Jews, for safety, not to wear outward symbols of their religion.
What we are seeing is pent-up anti-Semitism, the release of a millennium-old urge that powerfully infected and shaped European history. What is odd is not the anti-Semitism of today, but its relative absence during the last half-century. That was the historical anomaly. Holocaust shame kept the demon corked for that half-century. But the genie is out again.
This time, however, it is more sophisticated. Jews are fine so long as they are powerless, passive and picturesque. What is intolerable is the Jewish refusal to accept victimhood. And nothing so embodies that as the Jewish state.
What so offends Europeans is the armed Jew, the Jew who refuses to sustain seven suicide bombings in the seven days of Passover and strikes back. That Jew has been demonized in the European press as in, well, ... the '30s. The liberal Italian daily La Stampa ran a cartoon of the baby Jesus, besieged by Israeli tanks, saying, "Don't tell me they want to kill me again."
Again. And this time the Christ killers come in tanks.
Just when Europe had reconciled itself to tolerance for the passive Jew — the Holocaust survivor who could be pitied, lionized, perhaps awarded the occasional literary prize — along comes the Jewish state, unwilling to apologize for its existence.
The French were the vanguard of this modern anti-Semitism that can tolerate the Jew as victim but not as historical actor. It was 35 years ago, at the outbreak of the Six-Day War, that Charles de Gaulle cut off French support for Israel, denouncing its audacity in fighting for its life over his objections. But he did not stop there. He later went on to famously denounce the Jews as "an elite people, sure of itself and domineering."
The rejection of docility — "sure of itself" — was Israel's real crime 35 years ago. It remains Israel's crime today.
Marx was wrong when he said history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. The second time is tragedy, too.
E-mail: krauthammerra@hotmail.com
The truth of the matter is the culprits are mainly the many Arabs/Islamics who have poured into Europe who are doing these things. Of course there are and always will be some white anti-Semites, but their numbers are few.
The French have been having problems with their Arab immigrants for years, such as the terrorist acts of blowing up the metros in Paris in the mid-90s.
Recently, a French man was killed by a gang of Arabs who were picking on his son in school. The father went to confront the thugs and they beat him to death. This caused much outrage in France, and it was the last straw for many people. Many of the French are sick and tired of the crime associated with these immigrants, and that is why Le Pen got enough votes for the runoff.
I don't understand why so many writers for the media want to give somewhat false impression. I believe they count on the fact that most Americans are clueless as to the fact that Europe is now full of Muslim immigrants. I know a lot of the writers are Jewish, but I feel it's unwise for them to blame the white European people over there while not mentioning the real problem which is the Arabs. I just don't think it's fair or mature, plus it could backfire on the Jews.
And were the members of this gang arrested, prosecuted, and jailed? Were the members of this gang eligible for the death penalty for this murder? Was the father allowed to carry a gun for self-defense?
I would guess that the answer to all three of these questions is "No".
If Americans are, as you say, "clueless" to the threats confronting the Europeans because of the deluge of Arabs/Islamists, could it possibly be because the Europeans spend all of their time criticizing the US and Israel, who are at least trying to do something about the situation, instead of dealing with the non-politically correct problem of getting rid of/deporting the troublemakers.
As do I. And the author is sometimes known more for his hyperbole than his consistency. Its not "the French" that are doing this although certainly France has no history to be proud of in regards to
The sizeable Muslim population with its sympathies to the Palestinian side vie with Jewish groups sympathetic to the Israeli side. The fact is that France has unfortunatly only become the latest soil on which the ongoing crisis in the mid-east has spilled over into. Simple as that.
Due to the high immigration rates from north africa whole ghettos and no mans lands that the police are afraid to venture into have grown up in French cities that never existed before. These people, many of whom have sympathies and often direct ties to groups in the mid east are now the ones that have brought the current crisis out of that region and into that one.
To look for the origins of why this is happening, it doesnt hurt to recognize the fact that France has been in the grip of the extreme left for decades. Criticism of the US, and its free market, the support for nearly flood immigration can all be traced back to this. The fact is, an official member of the mainstream Communist party held a title in the French gvt. and Jospin, as some of you know is an official member of the Socialist party. These are some of the concerns many of the mainstream right parties such as the Gaullist Chirac that have been critical of the left and the EU have attempted to bring to the table. Unfortunately, the rational debate has been nearly swept off the table by smear campaigns run by legions of the extreme left, and it has resulted in many serious issues ending up in the hands of extremist politicians.
French youths have also been attacked en masse by gangs of street thugs simply for being of ethnic French descent and being in the wrong part of town at the wrong time of day or night. These are the stories that dont get headlines. The perpetrators many times cannot be arrested because there exists a wall of silence due to cultural factors in combination with the fact that some lobbying groups resort to accusations of profiling if it is attempted.
The Europeans sure do spend a lot of time critisizing Americans; I know that from first hand experience. My husband and I lived in Holland a few years ago and we traveled around a bit; my mother lives in France so I traveled there by train a few times a year. Most everywhere we went we experienced and overheard some snide remarks about Americans. I didn't hear anything at all about Israel from people, but they didn't seem to like Americans. They picture Americans as having a MacDonalds hamburger in one hand and a gun in the other. And they show these horrid documentaries, especially on the BBC channels about America which they portray as a nation of ignorant and violent people. I just couldn't understand why there seemed to be a propaganda campaign against America and Americans going on.
The sad fact is many cities in France now resemble Marrakesh more than the Marseille of 1950. And not only France. Brussels is now a huge Muslim city. Rome will shortly have a mosque to rival St. Peters in grandeur. Holland has had Muslim riots, with Muslims attacking Dutch citizens at country fairs! The Muslims of Europe are intolerant and aggressively ill-behaved because the Socialist governments of Europe allow it.
For Americans (and Europeans) to think there will be no reaction is naive in the extreme. Unless their governments get hard-nosed enough to shape up the "good Muslims," and ship out the "bad Muslims," there will be blood in the streets, and they will ALL be shipped out the hard way.
I never heard anything more ridiculous. Jews, as well as all Americans know where the terrorists come from, and it ain't Christian. While we dislike proselyzation by any religion, nothing comes close to the fear and anger caused by the deliberate murder of numerous innocents caused by and encouraged by the malignant and malevolent Islamic culture.
I certainly would like to know where you have seen evidence of "scarely-concealed[sic] glee" about dealing with the problems Europe is facing with an influx of increasingly dangerous Muslims.
The main reaction I've seen is sort of "I told you so" attitude from Jews who have been struggling with the problem and suffered the moralizing of the Europeans who have no concept of how evil and dangerous and difficult it is to to protect their populace from the Muslim menace. Now we'll see the "European" way of handling Muslim danger. Oh, I forgot, it is only against Jews, so it really doesn't have to be dealt with.
Review:
What the authors say is nothing new though, and they know that themsleves as well. But their extensive research in the matter, made this an exceptional book. At a certain point, in defense of their hypothesis, the authors critisize the way of analysis most historians will turn to. They show the lack of the ability to make connections between certain -at first glance unconnected-events of most present day historians. This makes this book so immensely special: they DID make the connections. The result: they lead you gently but surely through the world of the cathars and their secret. From there, they will lead you through to the templars, and their possible secret. Then to the secretive order that worked behind the screens of the templars. They expose the entire dynasty of the Merovingians, and their bloodline.....Finally, they show you the person of Jesus, and his connection in the mystery of all the things spoken of up to that point. Throw al this together, and you don't only have an explanation of what the Holy Grail is, but also what consequences this mysterious "object" had on history, and perhaps also will have on the future! The blood of Jesus, passed down by his descendants, might have quite an impact on the religious world and beyond, if the secretive order spoken of in this book succeeds in its task. The King of The Jews might still be around...And in this world of decay in spirituality, could anything have a bigger impact?
Not to American Jews, who in NY, couldn't wait to pull the lever for the Arafat-hugging Hillary. Israel's nukes are only useful as a MAD weapon. A trump card. They won't stop gangs of neonazis or fundamentalist muslims.
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