WarSclerotic

A year ago, in Paris, on April 4, 2017, Sarah Halimi, an elderly Jew, was horribly tortured and murdered in her home in Paris, then thrown from her window by a man shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is the greatest”) . She had reported to the police several times that she was the victim of anti-Semitic threats — in vain.

Less than a year later in Paris, another elderly — and disabled — Jew, Mireille Knoll, was raped, tortured and murdered in her apartment by another Muslim extremist. Mrs. Knoll, a Holocaust survivor, had also contacted the police to say that she had been threatened. Again, the police did nothing.

For months, the French justice system tried to cover-up the anti-Semitic nature of Sarah Halimi’s murder; the judge in charge of Mireille Knoll’s case at least recognized the anti-Semitic nature of her murder at once.

Mireille Knoll, an elderly and disabled Jewish Holocaust survivor, was recently raped, tortured and murdered in her apartment by a Muslim extremist. (Image source: Knoll family)

Both women were victims of an anti-Semitic hatred that is rising quickly in France.

French Jews live in constant insecurity. The men who murder them evidently do not hesitate to break into homes and attack elderly women; they seem to know they can threaten their future victims without fear of arrest. More often than not, the police do not even record the complaints of Jews who go to the police station, but simply note in the daybook that a Jew claiming threats came and went.

The French authorities say they are fighting anti-Semitism, but they never speak of the only anti-Semitism that today in France kills Jews: Islamic anti-Semitism. If the murderer is a Muslim, he is usually described as suddenly “radicalized”.

The word “radicalized” is now used to describe Muslim killers. It allows those who use it to avoid the words “Muslim” or “Islam”.

The French mainstream media also use the same language as the French authorities. When a killer’s neighbors are interviewed, they usually say he was “a nice guy“.

There was almost no news coverage of the murder of Sarah Halimi when it took place. There was more on the murder of Mireille Knoll, but almost none referred to the cause of her murder.

The fear that neutralizes French politicians and journalists is: Being accused of “Islamophobia”.

In all the uncountable number of books on the danger and the consequences of anti-Semitism published in France since World War II, only one deals specifically with the hatred of Jews in the Muslim world. The author, Philippe Simonnot, a former journalist for the daily Le Monde, actually justifies this hatred. He alleges (incorrectly) that Jews who lived in Muslim countries were well treated, but then betrayed Islam by not fighting alongside Muslims at the time of Western colonization; that the creation of Israel has been a crime against the poor “Palestinians”, and that Muslims have the right to collectively punish Christians and Jews. These ideas are not marginal. In France, they are widespread.

Each time, an anti-Semitic crime is committed by a Muslim on French territory, French politicians and journalists try to hide who the criminal is or what his motivations were. Often, they explain that the criminal is also a “victim.”

When a criminal leaves a message stating that he acted to avenge the suffering of “Palestinians”, French politicians and journalists almost unanimously repeat that what happens in the Middle East must stay in the Middle East, and then that a “just solution” must be found to “Palestinian suffering”. They ignore that, despite all of Israel’s efforts to treat Arabs humanely, every French report on Israel starts with denouncing Israeli soldiers as ruthless killers, supposedly happy to humiliate Arabs.

Today, France is the only country in the Western world where Jews are murdered simply for being Jews. Since 2006, eleven French Jews have been killed — men, women, children. At the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse, in March 2012, children aged three, six and eight were shot to death at point blank range.

Giulio Meotti wrote:

“If they had been Muslims, their stories would have become a universal warning against intolerance, racism, ethnic and religious hatred … Politicians would have given their name to streets and schools.”

But they were Jews, so in France, the anti-Semitism is not named.

A few weeks ago, at the annual dinner organized by the Jewish organization CRIF in Paris, President Emmanuel Macron said that France is at war with anti-Semitism. In the aftermath of the murder of Mireille Knoll, he said the same thing.

For decades, all French Presidents have used virtually the same sentences.

Macron repeated many times that “without Jews, France would no longer be France”. What appears to be taking place, however, is precisely that: a France with no Jews.

In two decades, more than 20% of French Jews have left the country. According to a survey, 40% of the Jews still living in France want to leave. Although Jews now represent a little less than 0.8% of the French population, half of the military and police deployed in the streets in France stand guard in front of Jewish schools and places of worship.

French Jews see that what remains of the Jewish presence in France is being erased. They know that they have to hide their Jewishness and that even if they are street-wise and carefully lock their door, risks are everywhere. They also know that what happens to them does not interest the rest of the French population. The French National Assembly has 577 members. Only one of them tirelessly and courageously draws attention to what is happening: Meyer Habib. He represents the French living in the Middle East and was elected thanks to the support of the French Jews who now live in Israel but still have their citizenship. Without them, he would have no chance of being elected.

After the murder of Sarah Halimi, a tribute to her was organized in the street where she lived. Only Jews attended. They were welcomed with insults, and bottles thrown from the windows of buildings.

When Jewish institutions called for a silent march in memory of Mireille Knoll, more people came. Again, most were Jews. Gilles-William Goldnadel, president of Lawyers Without Borders, and the Knoll family’s lawyer, said that Mireille Knoll’s late husband had been a survivor of Auschwitz and their children had lived with the memory of the Holocaust constantly in their minds, and how “terrible” it must be for them to see their mother murdered and her body burned. One of Mireille Knoll’s sons, Daniel, said that “Muslims must react”.

French Muslim organizations condemned the murder, but not the Jew-hate.

A study conducted for Fondapol (Foundation for Political Innovation) in 2014 showed that 25% of the French population have anti-Semitic sentiments, and that among practicing Muslims, the proportion is 42%. According to the study, 28% of French Muslims are strictly hostile to the teaching of the Holocaust in schools. Many say that the Holocaust is a Jewish invention.

Jews may be the main victims, but they are not the only ones. In just five years, 250 people in France have been murdered by Islamic terrorists — the most recent victims were shot just a few hours before Mireille Knoll’s body was discovered in the ashes of her apartment.

On March 23, a French Islamic terrorist killed four people in Trèbes, a small town in Southwestern France. One of the victims was a senior officer of the French national gendarmerie who took the place of a hostage and was slaughtered with a butcher knife. The terrorist was shot dead.

Mainstream French media hid that the officer was stabbed to death; they said he had been “hit on the neck“. The terrorist, who shouted “Allahu Akbar” was not described as an Islamist, but, of course, as a man who was “radicalized”. The French Department of the Interior added that he was considered extremely dangerous and had been “closely monitored” by the police. Thousands of people who are “radicalized” and are considered extremely dangerous are being “closely monitored” by the police.

When a police squad went to the neighborhood where the terrorist had lived, they were greeted by rioters.

Many Frenchmen consider the slaughtered senior officer, Arnaud Beltrame, a hero; in Paris, a solemn homage was paid to him. At the same moment, thousands of young Muslims were in the streets celebrating the terrorist and shouting his name, Radouane Lakdim. “For many young Muslims, the terrorist is the hero”, Thibault de Montbrial, the president of the Center of Reflection on Homeland Security, said.

The day after the Islamic attack in Trèbes, France’s government spokesman said that France had the moral duty to welcome and “reintegrate” 258 French former members of the defeated Islamic State presently imprisoned in Syria. This is apparently the French government’s entire view of its moral duty.

A few days ago, a “call of 100 intellectuals against Islamist separatism” was published in Le Figaro. The text accuses Islamists of trying to “separate the Muslim population from the rest of the French.”

A large part of France’s Muslim population already lives separately from the rest of the French population. It self-segregates. The main problem, however, is not self-segregation. The main problem is the spread of hatred against Jews, France and the Western world. Muslim extremists incite murder; and more and more often, murders occur. They do not want to live separately: they want to destroy, ravage and conquer. One only has to look at the histories of Turkey, all of North Africa, all of the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Greece, Portugal, northern Cyprus and southern Spain.

Last year, the historian Georges Bensoussan, born and raised in North Africa, published a book called A Submissive France. The title seemed only too accurate.

Will the French finally revolt? A poll published on March 29 shows that 83% of the French are in favor of the expulsion of all foreigners who have an “S file” with the intelligence services, whose holders are considered to be a threat to national security. The poll also showed that 87% of the French are in favor of sending French citizens with a “S file” to jail. The French government, however, has shown no interest in any of it.

Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27 books on France and Europe.

The Palestinian Authority (PA), now calling for an international inquiry into the March 30 events along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, says that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have the right to demonstrate and protest against Israel.

Ironically, however, when it comes to areas under the control of the PA in the West Bank, Palestinians are banned from staging protests in front of President Mahmoud Abbas’s “presidential” Mukata headquarters in Ramallah. In general, the PA leadership does not tolerate any form of criticism — which happens to be the reason that protests against Abbas and his government are virtually unheard of.

Palestinians are banned from staging protests in front of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s “presidential” Mukata headquarters (pictured) in Ramallah. (Image source: PalestinianLiberator/Wikimedia Commons)

The only protests the PA accepts and welcomes are those directed against Israel. Yes, in PA-controlled territories in the West Bank, Palestinians can stage daily protests against Israel anywhere and at any time they wish! They can throw stones at IDF soldiers and Jewish settlers, and the Palestinian policemen will do nothing to stop them. Does any Palestinian, however, dare to throw a stone at a Palestinian policeman? You guessed it. Definitely not.

In a similar vein, the PA security forces feel free to arrest any Palestinian they want, even for the most trivial infraction. They are allowed to hold Palestinians in detention without trial and deny them visits by their family and lawyer. They are allowed to arrest any Palestinian journalists they wish for posting supposedly critical remarks on Facebook. Rami Samara, for instance, was arrested by PA security forces on April 3. for criticizing “arbitrary measures” taken by the PA against Palestinian journalists. Unwilling to face the strong protests by human rights organizations and Palestinian journalists, Abbas ordered the release of Samara hours after the journalist was taken into custody.

Again ironically, hardly a day passes without the PA and its institutions condemning Israel for arresting Palestinians in the West Bank for security-related offenses. The PA often denounces the Israeli arrests as “abductions” and “violations of human rights” of Palestinians. Yet, this is the same PA that takes liberties in arresting and harassing Palestinians on a daily basis, mostly for being affiliated with rival groups, and for voicing criticism of the PA leadership and its policies – not to mention corruption.

When Israel arrests Hamas and Islamic Jihad supporters, the PA expresses outrage and demands the immediate release of the suspects. When the PA stages a campaign of arrests against its political opponents, however, suddenly, everything changes. Then, Palestinians are required to remain silent and even support their leaders and security forces for supposedly defending the national interests of the Palestinian public or “preserving law and order.”

Consider, for example the following: just in March, Abbas’s security forces in the West Bank arrested 210 Palestinians for allegedly being affiliated with Hamas and other Palestinian opposition groups. Another 121 Palestinians were summoned for interrogation by the PA security forces. The PA security forces also raided the homes of 49 Palestinians for various reasons, including critical comments on social media. At least eight detainees are said to be on hunger strikes in PA prisons in different parts of the West Bank. Among the detainees in Palestinian prisons are 25 university students, two school pupils, three journalists, one human rights activist, three school teachers, an engineer, two physicians and two university lecturers.

On April 4, the families of some of the Palestinians held by the PA security forces tried to hold a peaceful sit-in strike in front of Abbas’s office in Ramallah to demand the release of their sons. The families, however, were told that it was forbidden to stage any form of protest in front of Abbas’s headquarters for “security reasons.” The families were told that they could instead go to one of the streets in the center of Ramallah and protest there. The only demonstrations that are permitted in and around Abbas’s headquarters are those where Palestinians pledge allegiance to their 83-year-old president or to protest against Israel.

At the April 4 protest, the wives and mothers of the detainees complained that their sons were being held without trial and without family and lawyer visitations. The wife of Ziad Kilani, arrested last month by the PA security forces, said that she and her family do not know anything about their son and do not know where or why he is being held. Kilani’s mother said that when she asked the PA security officers the reason for her son’s detention, she was told that he was being held on the order of a top Palestinian official. She said that when she asked the official himself, he denied any knowledge of the matter.

The Palestinians say that the vast majority of the detainees arrested by Abbas’s security forces are detained solely for their political affiliations. They say these “politically motivated” arrests are part of the PA’s continued security crackdown on its political rivals in the West Bank, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Huda Na’im, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council — the Palestinian parliament that has been paralyzed for the past decade because of the power struggle between Hamas and Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction — called for the immediate release of all the Palestinian detainees held in PA prisons. “The ongoing politically motivated arrests in the West Bank [by the PA security forces] constitute a crime against the Palestinian people, and only serve the interests of Israel,” she said. Nai’m called on the PA to backtrack on its “treacherous practices. She also called for bringing the commanders of the PA security forces responsible for the arrests to trial for politically motivated arrests and torture.

Some may argue that the PA security forces are doing a good job by targeting Palestinians affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. One is left, however, with the nagging question: Why does the PA castigate Israel when it does the same thing against Hamas and Islamic Jihad?

During the March 30 events along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, several Palestinians belonging to Hamas and other armed groups in the Gaza Strip were killed by the Israeli army. The victims were not supporters of Abbas and Fatah. In fact, they were Abbas’s enemies. Didn’t Abbas recently hold Hamas responsible for the March 13 assassination attempt against his prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, during a visit to the northern Gaza Strip? Didn’t Abbas threaten to take “legal, financial and national measures against Hamas? Didn’t he threaten that “shoes will be pouring on the heads of the most junior and senior official in Hamas?”

Here is the situation: Abbas is arresting and torturing Palestinians on suspicion of being affiliated with Hamas at the same time that he is criticizing Israel for killing or arresting members of Hamas.

Abbas and his government want the international community to launch an investigation against Israel for killing a number of their Hamas enemies in the Gaza Strip. Abbas and his government say Palestinians are entitled to demonstrate near the border with Israel and endanger the lives of soldiers and Israeli citizens but are not allowed to stage a small protest outside his Ramallah office for “security reasons.”

Abbas and his government actually owe Israel a massive debt of thanks for targeting their enemies — the same enemies they just accused of trying to assassinate Abbas’ prime minister in the Gaza Strip last month.

Instead, Abbas is busy inciting against Israel and accusing it of committing “massacres” against “unarmed” civilians in the Gaza Strip. Who is Abbas fooling? Doesn’t Abbas see that even Hamas has boasted that several of those killed by the Israeli army were members of Hamas’s military wing, Izaddin al Qassam?

Again, we are showered by Abbas and the PA leadership with deceit and dissimulation. Were it not for Israel, these Hamas men would have crossed the border from the Gaza Strip and killed not only Israelis, but the Palestinian president and many of his Ramallah-based cronies.

As the leader of the Palestinians, Abbas should be criticizing Hamas and other terror groups for sending children, the elderly, women and “unarmed civilians” to the border with Israel, where they are endangering their lives. Abbas, however, is terrified of Hamas. He is also afraid of his own people, whom he has taught to hate – more than they love life.

Abbas, of course, knows the truth: that Hamas is sending Palestinians to be killed and injured near the border with Israel just to be able to hold up dead Palestinian babies with which to blame Israel in front of the press.

Abbas, however, is not only hypocrite, he is a coward. He knows it is safer for him to turn the heat falsely against Israel — the same Israel that is propping up his regime in the West Bank — and ensuring that Hamas does not drag him to the center of Ramallah and hang him as a traitor.

Bassam Tawil is a Muslim based in the Middle East.