Wake up France... !
Posted on 07/11/2004 10:50:19 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
PARIS - A gang of young men attacked a woman riding a suburban train with her infant, cutting her hair and drawing swastikas on her stomach. Other passengers watched but did nothing, police reported.
French politicians issued denunciations Sunday as news of the Friday morning attack spread through the nation.
Police said the gang of six set upon the 23-year-old woman on a suburban train north of Paris and grabbed her backpack where they found identity papers that showed an address in the capital's well-to-do 16th district. "There are only Jews in the 16th," one of the group of attackers said.
The young woman, who was not identified, was not Jewish and no longer lived in the district, police said.
The gang then pushed her and cut her hair "to keep a souvenir," police said. The attackers opened her shirt, reportedly with a knife, before drawing swastikas on her stomach with a marking pen. The 13-month-old infant fell from its stroller in the melee. Neither the mother nor infant was seriously hurt, police said.
Police described the gang as ages 15 to 20 and said some appeared to be of Muslim North African origin.
The attack occurred a day after President Jacques Chirac denounced mounting racial intolerance in France, calling for drastic change "at the risk of indifference and passivity."
According to the police account, none of the passengers on the train came to the woman's rescue.
Chirac denounced Friday's "shameful act" and Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin ordered police to find the culprits "as quickly as possible."
Roger Cukierman, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, said that, in the face of rising anti-Semitism, government decisions are no longer sufficient.
"Each one of us must truly feel threatened by this phenomenon," Cukierman said on France-Info radio. "This is not a problem of Jews but of France."
On Thursday, a day before the attack, Chirac traveled to Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a small town that sheltered some 5,000 Jews from Nazi occupiers during World War II.
"I ask (the French) to remind their children of the mortal danger of fanaticism, of exclusion, of cowardliness and resignation to extremism," he said.
Anti-Semitic acts have been on the rise in France over the past few years, but recently have spiked, with 135 registered in the first half of this year — more than the total reports last year. The rise in anti-Semitic acts has been accompanied by racist acts against Muslims.
What the HE$$ do you mean we will do nothing? Are you so callous that you haven't noticed that young men and women are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan doing something? Are you so empty that you haven't figured out what it's about?
I expect ingratitude from democrats and especially europeans, but someone on this forum ought to be bright enough to figure out what is going on!
France will be doomed as a nation before we are.
How could they - too busy waving white flags with both hands
Sick story. Apparently the perps attacked the woman before they 'suspected' she was Jewish from the ID in her backpack. Thinking she was Jewish because she lived in the 16th arr. is a bizarre reason for drawing a swastika on her. The 16 arr. is rife with anti-semitism, just a different kind from the banlieux.
Time for the civilized to leave france. The second Terror is coming.
Wake up France... !
And they marked their victim with a swastika? It appears that evil has been joined with evil.
Bryan it appears that the Moslems are ideed closing ranks around the world with the unsavory bunch you met up with...
I would not want Bardot as the symbol of French personhood. She's a racist nutter because she married one herself. One can defend one's country and demand the government do their job without being a loon.
When I visited France, I was attacked on the street at night. Thanks to two Senegalese guys for rescuing me because the French people walking by didn't give a shit. young people I mean. People say New Yorkers are insensitive! Not true. I was wondering where the police were,etc. Next time I'll be more careful most definately. I'll never walk Paris after dark as everything literally shuts down after ten or eleven.
The place where I stayed in France was around that area. If some of these guys think you don't speak French, you're considered easy pickings.
That freeper is right. How many times do you hear that annoying cliche 'never again' in reference to allowing holocaust level abomination? Yet there was PolPot, there's Rwanda and Sudan. The US now notices Sudan because they've gotten rid of the christians and now are eyeing MUSLIMS. Human beings are prone to laziness. This world only continues to turn because of a faithful few patriots and caring people in each country around the world.
What the HE$$ do you mean we will do nothing? Are you so callous that you haven't noticed that young men and women are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan doing something? Are you so empty that you haven't figured out what it's about?
One BACK OFF ... I know exactly what we are doing in the Middle East considering that I have friends there and WAS there 12-13 years ago.
Perhaps, my words were not quite so clear, I am referring to the fact that eventually the EU is going to become our enemy again (like Germany WW2).
Does that clarify it for you ?
That's not what you said - it's not remotely anything like what you said.
I understood the historic context you placed it in and it made perfect sense. It is too what he said, he compared it to 1936 rather then 1945, I did the same at the same time.
DKK
I've only been the France once,I didn't like Paris, but the rest was nice and the people treated me well.Probably worse now.
My mother was disappointed. She said Paris was like New York City *LOL* Next time I go, I'll visit the countryside. Country folks are nicer and they don't get snotty.
I, too, understood his replacement of the historical context from '45 to '36. But he still said "once again we will do nothing" - and we are already doing something. What we are accomplishing in Iraq does not involve only Iraq. It is exposing the UN and European ties to the despot rule and corruption that enabled the massacre of tens of thousands (or more) of Iraqis in ethnic cleansing. Saddam's Iraq was not an island - and his connection to terrorism, along with his connections to EU and UN leaders, will make a full circle. We ARE doing something - we are acting early. We are building a case. We are exposing the evil. We are wiping it out.
If some are avoiding their appointed task for freedom, it is the members of the organized free press of the USA. However WE have the internet now and can fulfill our duties as free citizens to report the truth. That is how WE are doing and shall do something. It is nothing like 1936 in America, we have the power of information now.
Cynicism makes you weak.
Clinton cut our military by 40% and we're out there fighting anyway. We're not just fighting a war against the terrorists, we're fighting against a corrupt UN and EU as well. If you think we haven't seen those storm clouds gathering, you are very much mistaken.
Don't mean to over react, but I'm getting pretty sick of criticism coming from all sides. How about having a little faith?
"According to the police account, none of the passengers on the train came to the woman's rescue. "
Apparently there are no men in France.
Preaching to the choir.
DKK
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