"Islamophobia" & The Not So Mighty Pens

Professor Phyllis Chesler has written an incisive piece regarding a number of writers and intellectuals who oppose tomorrow's PEN award to  the survivors of the carnage at the Charlie Hebdo magazine.

She writes, inter alia, 

'....[O]ne hundred and forty five authors have decided to shame PEN—publicly, and at the last minute—in order to make an “anti-Islamophobic” political statement which renders every critic of Islamic gender and religious apartheid, and every critic of Islamic terrorism, that much more vulnerable....

[Distinguished American Jewish n]ovelist Francine Prose, has written in The Guardian:

The ‘narrative’ of the Charlie Hebdo murders—white Europeans killed in their offices by Muslim extremists—is one that feeds neatly into the cultural prejudices that have allowed our government to make so many disastrous mistakes in the Middle East. The First Amendment guarantees the right of the Neo-Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois but we don’t give them an award.

But she is wrong about Charlie Hebdo’s alleged “Islamophobia.” According to two French sociologists, a review of “523 covers of Hebdo over 10 years found that 485 dealt with politics, economics and so forth. A total of 38 involved religion; of those, Christianity was the exclusive subject of 21, and Islam of seven.” ....

Some of these distinguished signatories include the biographer of a Jewish-American woman who converted to Islam and who became the leading propagandist in Pakistan for radical Islam ....

Those who may be greatly talented are not spared the most vulgar prejudices of the day. Their foolish protest is a betrayal of the very civilization that has allowed them to flourish.'

Read the entire piece here

Meanwhile, more Islamic antisemitism, this time from an Egyptian imam comparing Jews to a "malignant tumour" which must be rooted out:

"You French People, If You Are In Gaza, We Will Slaughter You" (videos)

Please don't miss the previous post, by David Singer, on the fallout from the Charlie Hebdo tragedy. Following on from that post, here are Palestinian Islamists with some chilling messages (hat tip: Vlad Tepes blog):

More (hat tip Vlad Tepes) from Gaza, this outside the French Cultural Centre there:

(This article concerns an IS cell practising beheading skills by decapitating live animals in preparation for an attack on Israeli Druze: Vlad Tepes links to it but I chose not to look.)

Meanwhile:

As an added bonus here's Bradford "Respect Party" MP Gorgeous George, with many a denunciation of Israel as usual, declaring at an anti-Charlie Hebdo rally in his constituency that "The proper job of a satirist... is to hold the rich and powerful to account", inveighing against widespread "Islamophobia", and vowing to agitate in Parliament for the outlawing of insults to "The Prophets":

"Charlie Hebdomania": David Singer on the flaws & shortcomings of President Hollande's unity march (plus video)

Here's a video showing leftists and Muslims in Paris demonstrating against "Islamophobia" (and, ils disent, antisemitism) in the wake of the recent atrocities in Paris.  The Palestinian flag is much in evidence, as are denunciations of Israel:

And here, entitled "CharlieHebdomania Plunges World Into Whirlpool Of Islamic Violence", is the latest post by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

The sale of seven million copies of the magazine Charlie Hebdo featuring a front page cartoon depicting an image purporting to be that of Muhammad has brought forth its first bloody response from the Islamic world – Niger – where reportedly three people have been killed and six churches attacked and looted.

Graffiti on the French cultural centre in Gaza (Elder of Ziyon blog has more)

Riots and protests in Algeria, Somalia, Pakistan and Jordan [see also my previous post - D.A.] have added fuel to the rapidly growing feeling of resentment and hostility that Charlie Hebdo has inflamed.

Niger's President , Mahamadou Issoufou, was one of six African heads of state who attended the unity march in Paris last Sunday in the aftermath of the horrific massacres in the offices of Charlie Hebdo and a Kosher supermarket - that saw 17 people murdered in cold blood by terrorists identifying themselves with Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.

Niger, Algeria, Somalia, Pakistan and Jordan are all members of the 57 States comprising the Organisation of Islamic Co-Operation. President Issoufou – reacting to the outbreak of the violence in Niger  – angrily declared:

"Those who loot these places of worship, who desecrate them and kill their Christian compatriots... have understood nothing of Islam"

“Understanding nothing of Islam” could however be equally applied to those seven million readers (with possibly still more to come) who eagerly snapped up the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo – a publication that normally sells 60000 copies – supposedly in support of the right of “freedom of expression” – as proclaimed by French President Francois Hollande:

“…France has principles and values, in particular freedom of expression."

Hollande had apparently abandoned the moral high ground he initially took on January 7 – following the attack on Charlie Hebdo – when he gave this response:

“France is in shock – the shock of an attack, because it’s a terrorist attack, there’s no doubt about that – against a newspaper that had already been threatened on several occasions and had consequently been under protection. At such times, we must stand together as one, show that we are a united country and that we can react properly, with firmness, but always with concern for national unity. “

Shooting civilians in cold blood in their offices and in a supermarket needed to be condemned and swiftly ended. No State can possibly permit such conduct within its borders nor can any such conduct be justified on any grounds whatsoever – no matter who or what is the target.

But was cocking your nose an appropriate response to the sensitivities and feelings of 1.4 billion Moslems around the world – 4.7 million of whom were estimated in 2010 by the Pew Report to live in France and comprise 7.5 per cent of France’s population – by publishing another depiction of Muhammad contrary to what many Moslems believe to be the precepts of Islam?

Hollande seems to be whistling even further into the wind when he proclaims:

"There are tensions abroad where people don't understand our attachment to the freedom of speech. We've seen the protests, and I would say that in France all beliefs are respected."  

How can Hollande claim that France respects all beliefs when his own prime minister is photographed holding a copy of the front page of the latest Charlie Hebdo magazine leaving the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysée Palace in Paris?

There surely is a big difference in supporting the freedom of expression whilst at the same time disagreeing strenuously with the views those people are expressing.

Would the better response have been to leave those seven million copies on the newsstand shelves unsold and its contents condemned for fuelling racial hatred?

http://news.sky.com/story/1409561/rabbi-predicts-jewish-exodus-from-france

Jewish citizens of France certainly don’t believe Hollande and have been voting with their feet in increasing numbers – following more than 20 antisemitic incidents – some fatal – committed against French Jews in the last twelve months. 7000 Jews left France and emigrated to Israel during that period. Those Jews still remaining will view the following words of French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on 21 November 2014 last year with utter cynicism and disbelief after last week’s horror at the kosher supermarket:

“Every time you feel the violence exercised against you, when you are afraid for your children, when you are worried about this rising violence, remind yourselves that the republic protects you and [you have] an interior minister who loves you and who is your friend”

Hollande’s unity march – led by more than 40 international leaders locking arms in solidarity – should have concentrated solely on calling for the eradication of those responsible for the terrorist attacks – Islamic State and Al-Qaeda – rather than marching ahead of a sea of “Je suis Charlie” banners hoisted defiantly aloft behind them.

Collective international military action is undoubtedly needed to degrade and destroy these enemies of humankind engaging in unimaginable acts of violence all around the world and threatening its peace and security – including groups such Boko Haram, Jabhat Al-Nusra, Taliban, Hamas and Hezbollah.

The message should be clear and unyielding – no state will tolerate under any circumstances the deliberate targeting of its civilians for any reasons whatsoever.

Hollande’s march should have been just the first stage of a world unity march by all world leaders to the United Nations in New York – demanding the passing of a Resolution by the UN Security Council to take military action against Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

Until 193 world states identify and eradicate their common enemies, CharlieHebdomania will remain an incurable illness with frightening consequences.

Ils Ne Sont Pas Charlie Hebdo: Angry Muslims demonstrate on the Temple Mount (video)

Here's footage of the large and vehement demonstration against France that's taken place in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount:

 
 Read and see more here

Shame On You, Stephen Sizer! Shame On You!

Soon they will rest in the soil of Eretz Israel, in the same cemetery as four of the victims of the Islamist monster who targeted a Jewish school in Toulouse in 2012, the four victims of the Islamist monster who deliberately made Jews his target, and blasted them to death in a kosher supermarket in Paris while other terrified hostages cowered.  They were (from right to left in the picture) a retired gentleman, a teacher, and two young men who had their entire adult lives ahead of them, one of whom, Yoav, was the son of the chief rabbi of Tunis.  The other, Yohan, was killed when he made a heroic attempt to disarm the Islamist monster.

Murdered because they were Jews

Indeed, it appears that Elsa Cayat, the only woman slaughtered at the Charlie Hebdo offices, was killed owing to her Jewishness (video interview with her cousin, who also tells how Elsa had been receiving antisemitic death threats over her association with the magazine).  No other woman at Charlie Hebdo was murdered by the killers, who reportedly had a self-declared policy of sparing women.

In addition, it's widely assumed, certainly by the school administration itself,  that the supermarket monster who killed a young policewoman and blasted a council worker in the face.had been on his way to cause mayhem and carnage at a Jewish primary school around the corner.

I've a little more to say on the topic of France in the wake of the recent atrocities, but right now I'd like to bring readers' attention to the shameful behaviour of the Anglican vicar of Virginia Water, the Reverend Stephen Sizer, who's been posting his usual propaganda against Israel with breakneck speed. 

Among all of these par-for-the-course items he has also posted items that have more than a whiff of the sewer about them, and are surely unworthy of a professed Christian, let alone a man of the cloth.  Shame on him.  And that goes double for some of his followers.

 The bodies of the Jewish victims of the  Parisian supermarket atrocity were hardly cold when Sizer,  a firm foe of "Islamophobia", shared a link to a Jerusalem Post report regarding a slimy little item from Wikileaks

And instead of lamenting the antisemitism and expressing sympathy for the genuine fear that in the wake of the Paris tragedy has forced the Jews of north London to beef up security – as described here by the Daily Mail – the vicar posted this mockery of the steps Jews feel they have to go to in order to try to keep their community safe from harm (Shomrim, in case some non-Jewish readers don't know, is Hebrew for watchers or guardians):

 

The commenters above include Jewish-born convert to Christianity Miranda Pinch, herself an anti-Israel activist, and Mike Allan, whose persistent antisemitic postings should long since have persuaded the vicar to de-friend him. Here's a current example:

Note the snotty introduction (rather than a condemnation of antisemitism) to this item offered by the vicar to his follows for their delectation:

This, incidentally, is what the above antisemite wrote:

A snide comment regarding this report, which concerns David Ward MP, who was once suspended from the LibDem Party for antisemitic comments:

The following relates to BBC reporter and newsreader Tim Willcox's crass question to a Jewish lady in Paris, which incidentally, as the linked report shows, has been condemned by, among others, historian Simon Schama (good on yah, sir!) 

Included among these comments is a taste of the despicable antisemitism that Sizer lets his followers get away with.

Mick Fletcher's post in full:

For shame, Stephen Sizer.  For shame.

Update; breaking news: Sizer's latest:

 Will someone please bring the disgraceful posts to his bishop's attention?

Update: he's at it again ...

The Paris Atrocity: The View From A Berlin Bunker & Other Nasties

Greta Berlin is one of the prominent shills of the pro-Palestinian, Israel-hating movement. Here's how Ms Berlin, and some of her Facebook faithful,  have reacted to news of the massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo:

Tony Gratrex, another stalwart of the Israel-hating movement, connected with the Reading PSC branch, brings a nasty out of the woodwork with this post:

Seymour Alexander, a rabidly anti-Israel activist in the UK (though personally, I suspect, an engaging guy away from that obsession), letting a vivid imagination flow, and giving an anti-Israel activist in the USA, Betty Molchany, food for thought :

.
Mary Hughes-Thompson, a co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement, on Twitter (hat tip: StandWithUs):

One of the many pertinent ripostes:

 And the lady's revenge:

 

Can we expect the Online Hate Prevention Institute to get this sort of thing zapped?