This article originally appeared on www.gatestoneinstitute.org and has been republished here with their permission.
By: Guy Millière
The demonstration gathered nearly four million people, but seeing in it a mobilization against terrorism, jihad and anti-Semitism would be a mistake.
The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia attended, shortly after his nation had just finished flogging the young blogger Raif Badawi with the first 50 lashes of his 1000 lash sentence. Badawi is being flayed alive — “very severely,” the lashing order said. He has 950 lashes to go.
Mahmoud Abbas, the President of Palestinian unity government, which includes Hamas and supports jihadist terrorism as well as genocide, was at the forefront — smiling. Israel’s Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, was originally not invited. He came anyhow. He was told not to speak. He spoke anyhow. As a sign of disapproval, French officials left before his speech.
Although six Jews were among the seventeen victims, the anti-Semitic dimension of the attacks was barely spoken about.
The words “Islam” and “jihadist” were not mentioned. President François Hollande said, against all evidence, “Those who committed these acts have nothing to do with Islam.”
Few Muslims came. They stated their only concern: “Avoid stigmatization of the Muslim community!”
Anyone who watches television and sees what is happening in many Muslim countries has to be doubting that Islam is peaceful.
Several polls show that more than 70% of the French think Islam is incompatible with democracy and Western civilization. Those polls predate the attacks.
PM Netanyahu (front row, 7th from left), joins hands with world leaders as they attend a solidarity march .(Flash 90)
The French demonstration of “unity” on Sunday, January 11, may have attracted nearly four million marchers and shown a facade of unity, but behind this facade, rising tensions are approaching the breaking point.
Government members immediately called for fighting “terrorism” and for “national unity.” Mainstream media called for defending “free speech.” Signs saying “I am Charlie” [“Je Suis Charlie”] began to appear the next day and quickly multiplied. TV channels showed the sign on their screens. Newspapers and magazines put it on their front page.
After the terrorist attack against the kosher supermarket, signs saying “I am a Jew” appeared, too, but were much less numerous. Although six Jews were among the seventeen victims, the anti-Semitic dimension of the attacks was barely spoken about.
And although it was obvious that the attacks were committed by Islamist jihadists, the words “Islam” and “jihadists” were not mentioned. In a solemn statement on television, on January 9, President François Hollande insisted, against all evidence, “Those who committed these acts have nothing to do with Islam.”
Hollande called on the leaders of all political parties to join; they agreed. He called on world leaders to come to Paris; leaders and representatives from forty countries came. He requested the support of all the media; he got it. He requested the support of the entire population, and millions of people responded to his call.
The event gathered nearly four million people, but seeing in it a mobilization against terrorism, jihad and anti-Semitism would be a mistake. Leaders of “anti-Zionist” left-wing organizations that support Hamas were present. Ministers of states financing jihadist terrorism, and even genocide, were also there.
The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia attended, shortly after his nation had just finished flogging Raif Badawi, a young Saudi blogger accused of “insulting Islam,” with the first fifty lashes of his sentence of 1000 lashes plus 10 years in prison, for practicing the most gentle free speech. Badawi is now being flayed alive — “very severely,” the lashing order said. He has 950 lashes to go.
Turkey, which hosts part of the leadership of the genocidal Hamas organization, was there. Turkey has also jailed more journalists than any other country, including Iran and China.
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of a Palestinian unity government, which includes Hamas and directly supports jihadist terrorism as well as genocide, was at the forefront — smiling. Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, was initially not invited. He came anyhow. French officials let him know that he was not welcome and not to speak. He spoke anyhow. As a sign of disapproval, French officials left the Grand Synagogue of Paris during the ceremony for the dead Jews, before Netanyahu’s speech.
The President of the populist National Front, Marine Le Pen, was also not included. She is silent. She is sure a coming explosion will happen, and that she will receive more votes.
The slogans in the demonstration spoke of “free speech” and the need to “live together.” Signs saying “I am Charlie” were everywhere. Signs saying “I am a Jew” [“Je suis Juif”] were rare. No signs or slogans mentioned jihad or the need to combat jihad or terrorism: the watchword was that these subjects should be shunned. No signs or slogan mentioned anti-Semitism or the real cause of jihadist attacks: caricatures of Mohammed, considered by Koranic law to be blasphemous. Those subjects had to be abandoned.
Few French Muslims came — the tiniest drop in a huge ocean — and the television cameras immediately homed in on them. They were interviewed and stated their only concern: “Avoid stigmatization of the Muslim community!”
Prime Minister Manuel Valls had told journalists he was “afraid” for Muslims. Two days later — and only two days later — on January 13, he said that “France is at war against terrorism, jihadism and radical Islam.” He added immediately that one of his priorities was to fight mercilessly against “Islamophobia.”
Emergency decisions were taken. Ten thousand soldiers were deployed throughout the nation. Military patrols were placed at the entrance of Jewish sites and mosques. A few Muslims who shouted “Long live Coulibaly” or “Long live the Kouachi brothers” were arrested.
Debates in the media were organized around ethereal questions: “How to build a ‘French Islam'”, “how to explain that Islam is peaceful,” “how better to integrate Muslims.”
Anyone who knows Islam and knows of the existence of the internet also knows that “French Islam” does not exist, and that Islam in France cannot be separated from Islam as it is everywhere else.
Anyone who watches television and sees what is happening in many Muslim countries has to be doubting that Islam is peaceful. Most Muslim “experts” invited to speak are familiar with Islam, familiar with the internet and familiar with what is going on in many Muslim countries — but they lie. Almost all of them are militants, imams, Muslim scholars. Most of them are members of Islamic organizations. Many belong to the French branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the French have just obligingly given them a platform.
The idea that Muslims have to be integrated was discussed many times — in vain. The absence of integration has worsened decade after decade. “Experts” invited to speak about integration were forcefully lying too. Those who knew the truth and could tell it were kept away.
More than 750 no-go zones exist in the country, all under the sway of gang leaders and radical imams.
More than 60% percent of inmates in French prisons are Muslim. And future Amedy Coulibalys, Cherif Kouachis, Mohamed Merahs and Mehdi Nemmouches are radicalized every year before going off to train for jihad in Syria or Yemen.
Terrorism experts say that dozens of jihadists are preparing attacks in France alone, and that more deadly attacks will take place. They stress that many terrorist sleeper cells exist in the country. France is a country where gun ownership by ordinary citizens is forbidden. So most people are powerless against aggressors, as tens of thousands of guns are hidden in basements.
French Jews have no illusions. Anti-Semitic attacks have become common and increasingly severe. When members of the government dare to speak of anti-Semitism, they refuse to speak of Islamic anti-Semitism, even if Islamic anti-Semitism is now the cause of almost all anti-Semitic attacks.
French Jews could see on January 11 that Prime Minister Netanyahu was not welcome, while Abbas and other supporters of jihad were celebrated. They see how speaking ill of Israel blows through the mainstream media and feeds increasing Jew-hate. They see the French parliament vote for the creation of an admittedly genocidal “Palestinian State.”
They see that they are unarmed and that the soldiers in the streets will not be there forever. They see that jihadists are preparing more attacks. They see no-go zones grow increasingly turbulent. They see what is happening in prisons. They see that the French justice system gives short terms to jihadists and releases them quickly. They see that the government cannot stop mass riots and has no way to prevent more attacks. They see that if just Jews had been targeted in recent attacks, no protests would have taken place. Each year they see more Jews leave the country. Seven thousand left for Israel in 2014, and the Jewish Agency for Israel expects 15,000 this year.
The Muslim population is largely silent, except in the heavily-Muslim suburbs, where those who support Coulibaly and the Kouachi brothers can speak without risking arrest. Those who speak officially in the name of the French Muslim community explain that Islam is not the threat, that the real culprits are those who “insult Islam,” and that “the main victims” are Muslims.
The rest of the French population is not convinced. Several polls show that more that 70% of the French think Islam is incompatible with democracy and Western civilization; those polls predate the recent attacks.
French society has not been this split for a very long time. The political consensus that prevails in the country will not last. Recent polls show the rising fear of a widespread explosion.
The French journalist Eric Zemmour said a short while ago that France was on edge of civil war. His remarks provoked shock. He received multiple death threats. He is now under police protection. All those who criticize Islam in France suffer the same fate. Charlie Hebdo cartoonists received death threats. They were also under police protection. They are dead.
More than three million copies of the issue of Charlie Hebdo published January 14, a week after the murders, were sold on the day of its release, and at least four million more the days after. The cover says, “All is forgiven,” and shows Mohammed crying and bearing a sign saying, “I am Charlie.” Many French Muslims, and Muslims in Niger and Pakistan, are voicing their anger. Jihadist movements are hurling threats against France.
On January 15, two jihadists who had returned recently from Syria were killed in Verviers, Belgium, a hundred miles from the French border. They were about to commit serious attacks, police reported. They had accomplices, and there have been arrests. The situation in Belgium is as bad as the situation in France. There are terror cells, we are told, in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The jihad in Europe is just beginning.