but howl with rage when the IDF tries to stop them.
And in France the daily slaughter of Israeli women and children is totally ignored,
but the IDF counter attack on armed Palestinean terrorists causes them to burn synagogues.
Go figure.
Posted on 03/31/2002 9:41:52 PM PST by Prodigal Son
A fire destroyed a synagogue in the southern French city of Marseilles later on Sunday, in what appears to be the latest in a wave of attacks against Jewish targets across the country.
Police have yet to comment on the cause of the blaze which destroyed the building in the Mediterranean port city, the French news agency AFP reports.
In attacks in other cities, shots were fired at a kosher butcher's and two other synagogues were damaged in what Jewish leaders are seeing as a pattern of violence.
A leader of France's Jewish community said the attacks were warning signs that anti-Semitism reminiscent of the Nazi era could sweep the country.
The fire in Marseilles on Sunday night was condemned by Clement Yana of the French Jewish Representative Committee.
"This is not an accident," he said. "The fire took hold in several places. It was done with petrol. This is an anti-Semitic act."
The earlier attacks all came within 24 hours each hours of each other at the weekend in or near major cities.
'Profoundly worried'
No-one has been hurt in the attacks, though there was a report of a Jewish couple being assaulted in the town of Villeurbanne, in the Rhone region, causing the woman to spend the night in hospital.
Jean Kahn, president of the Central Board of French Jews, said events were reminiscent of "Kristallnacht" - the name given to the night of 9 November, 1938, when German mobs embarked on a rampage of anti-Semitic violence with the backing of Adolf Hitler's Nazi government.
The Jewish Central Consistory in Paris said it was "profoundly worried by the repeated attacks on French synagogues," and called on the government immediately to step up protection of Jewish buildings and institutions.
The attacks came during the Jewish festival of Passover and followed a surge of violence in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Lionel Jospin condemned the Lyon attack as "spineless and absurd".
"I will not accept the spread of racism and anti-Semitism in our country," he said.
President Jacques Chirac also denounced the violence but denied there was a spirit of anti-Semitism in France.
Police in various areas have strengthened security around Jewish buildings.
Israeli leaders - including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - have said French anti-Semitism is on the rise, but the government in Paris argues that the attacks are mainly the work of Muslims of North African origin and must be seen in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Marseilles has a particularly large Muslim community.
Good question.
When Islam cuts off their oil? When burning synagogues, follows the course of normal Islamic evolution, and people start exploding in the streets, or attacking the priceless artifacts and symbols of democracy and culture?
I half expected a plane attack on the eiffel tower, on the same day or week when the islamic radicals murdered our fellow americans in New York. I fear for Europe in that our family members... they are. Cousins, aunts, uncles, blood relatives, and often kindred in so many ways, Europe carried the torch of Western Civilization.
Now, they are unable to carry their own chambre pots, and complain to us, of their own stench. They are indeed easy victims. With (semi) fortress america at attention, I expect our interests abroad, will become targets of opportunity in Europe. As Islam cuts off their oil, and Europe bleats, I doubt Islam will let it off the hook. THEY may be foolishly counting on the bleating of Europe, with the scimitar held to her throat, to bring us to our knees.
Europe, may not be as aquiescent as Islam hopes. And WE will not be brought to our knees... Were I a musli, I would be VERY concerned about Allah's ability to protect, mecca, medina, the temple mount, and the capital cities of every arabic/islamic state from the wrath of the USA, Israel, Britain... and even France.
Like the genie of old... I think its time for Islam to get back in its bottle for a few thousand years.
Remember all the anti islamic hate crimes that DIDN'T happen after 3,000 of us were slaughtered on 9-11 by islemmings screaming "Allah Akbar"?
When I was in Marseilles about 8 years ago, I was installing software in a bank downtown. We would work all night and leave for our hotels in the morning. Many times the cars would have equipment stripped from them. We were told by the locals that the Arab population had lots of ties to North Africa. Apparently, there was an auto parts trade. Stolen cars from prior years needed parts. The locals would supply the parts needed in North Africa by stealing parts from cars on the streets. Headlights from expensive cars were frequent targets.
Earlier in the trip, our car was broken into and all of our luggage was stolen. I had to replenish everything at local stores. [Don't let anyone tell you that products are cheaper in Europe. In general, shoes and luggage were the only bargains.] We were told, without proof, that Arab rings were breaking into cars in the area.
Before this is over, we may wish we had developed oil in Alaska on a much wider scale. I believe the Democrats have been the chief impediment to this.
That makes me think. The Islamic world hates the USA. They hate us for what we are (although Europe says they hate us for being arrogant). Islamic crazies attack us directly; destroy a skyline that was a tangible monument to the creative potential of man and kill thousands of our citizens. But did we go on a binge of hate induced Mosque burning? No. Except for the recent incident of the man driving his pickup truck into one in Florida incidents of this type have by and large not happened. We are a tolerant people.
But here you have these crazies who I suppose are upset about something going on somewhere where they have no direct connection except the one they define as religious affiliation and sympathy (Palestinian problem) and what do they do? Attack Jewish places of worship.
And the Europeans are sympathetic to them. They write articles apologizing for such behaviour- "It's the only method of protest available to them". The Europeans condemn us for being arrogant but they shift uneasily when put upon to describe what is happening within their own borders. On a side note, if the Europeans really despised arrogance as much as they say- Michael Schumacher would be the most reviled man on the continent. The insanity of it all.
Aye, I was already typing my reply number 28 when you posted.
That's a fair point. It doesn't say in the article who did it.
But, I would point out these incidents took place on the heels of the Israeli military "crackdown" (for want of a better word) on Arafat. Also, as has been pointed out, Marseilles has a very large Muslim population. It seems to me that perhaps the BBC has purposefully omitted the fact that at least an eye should be cast towards the Muslim community in France. Instead they are very faithful to the Kristalnacht metaphor- leading one to think along Right Wing Fanatic lines. Lionel Jospin certainly wasted no time condemning the acts and I'm sure he could only benefit by making certain the public thinks the Right Wing is responsible. Hey, it might turn out that they were.
But given the Islamic rap sheet of late- they are "the usual suspects" and someone will need to show me that they weren't behind it.
but howl with rage when the IDF tries to stop them.
And in France the daily slaughter of Israeli women and children is totally ignored,
but the IDF counter attack on armed Palestinean terrorists causes them to burn synagogues.
Go figure.
This is an interesting point. And the left in our own country hate oil companies and pipelines. All their 9/11 conspiracy theories center around the "Bush/Cheney Cabal" wanting to build pipelines in Afghanistan and in Eastern Europe in order to get stinking rich. They (the left) just cannot make the connection between that black stuff in the ground and our actual daily survival. Clinton will never find his legacy. But if what you say comes to pass- The legacy of George W Bush will be full of kudos for the crafty way he avoided Europe's fate by guaranteeing the flow of our nation's black life blood from other than Arab sources.
Historical amnesia. In the 8th and 9th centuries France was instrumental in stopping the spread of Islamic invaders into Europe, in particular at Poitiers and later during the reign of Charlemagne. Would that the French remember (and revive) their past glory...
I suspect they would however, spend their time crying over the lost latté machines...
France would wake up, if Notre Dame were targetted by radical muslims. It USED to be the center of France, I am told.
It is for certain that things cannot get better, unless they get a little worse now and then... right now, things are looking a little worse to me.
Useless trivia here: every roadsign in France that states the number of kilometers to Paris is measured to the stone in front of Notre Dame that says Kilometer Zero, or so I'm told.
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