The Azeris deny that they have destroyed the site. But everyone is just going to have to take their word for it; no one can go look for himself.
To destroy the site, of course, would be in keeping with the Islamic concept of jahiliyya, pre-Islamic ignorance. This site has no value: it is not Islamic.
From the Independent, with thanks to all who sent this in:
Fears that Azerbaijan has systematically destroyed hundreds of 500-year-old Christian artefacts have exploded into a diplomatic row, after Euro MPs were barred from inspecting an ancient Armenian burial site.The predominantly Muslim country's government has been accused of "flagrant vandalism" similar to the Taliban's demolition of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.
The claims centre on the fate of rare "khachkars", stone crosses carved with intricate floral designs, at the burial ground of Djulfa in the Nakhichevan region of Azerbaijan, an enclave separated from the rest of the country by Armenia.
The works - some of the most important examples of Armenian heritage - are said to have been smashed with sledgehammers last December as the site was concreted over.
The Azerbaijan government, which denies the claims, is now at the centre of a row with MEPs, some of whom it accused of a "biased and hysterical approach". Its ambassador to the EU also says the European Parliament has ignored damage to Muslim sites in Armenia. Azerbaijan has refused to allow a delegation of Euro MPs permission to visit the 1,500-year-old Djulfa cemetery during their trip to the region last month.
Most of original 10,000 khachkars, most of which date from the 15th and 16th century, were destroyed by the early 20th century, leaving probably fewer than 3,000 by the late 1970s.
According to the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos), the Azerbaijan government removed 800 khachkars in 1998. Though the destruction was halted following protests from Unesco, it resumed four years later. By January 2003 "the 1,500-year-old cemetery had completely been flattened," Icomos says.
Witnesses, quoted in the Armenian press, say the final round of vandalism was unleashed in December last year by Azerbaijani soldiers wielding sledgehammers....
Hannes Swoboda, an Austrian socialist MEP and member of the committee barred from examining the site, said he hopes a visit can be arranged in the autumn. He added: "If they do not allow us to go, we have a clear hint that something bad has happened. If something is hidden we want to ask why. It can only be because some of the allegations are true."
And he warned: "One of the major elements of any country that wants to come close to Europe is that the cultural heritage of neighbours is respected."
Mmm hmm.
Was it the flower carvings or the crosses they didn't like?
"Representational" art was despised by Mohamamad, who, according to the Hadiths, saw an animal shape woven into the pattern of a Persian pillow and raged at this offensive challenge to the pure creativity of Allah, who alone should be allowed to make anything that looks like something already existing in the natural world.
I guess all the tile arabesques in Moslem mosques, the Alhambra, et al, will now need to be pried out and smashed because crystal interferometry patterns/photos of snowflakes/cloud chamber recordings of sub-atomic particles, etc. reveal the exact same shapes as Islamic geometric "non-repesentational" art. Thus, rendering them "representational". And forbidden.
Even pressing your eyeballs can conjure up these same kaliedoscopic images, so perhaps Muslim eyballs will have to be removed as well... being latent sources of potentially haram designs?
Which will make car bombers a little less efficient.
(And, considering their low opinion of canines, seeing-eye dogs won't be an option.)
It's getting tougher and tougher to be crazy.
A number of years ago I heard Baroness Carolyn Cox, of the British House of Lords, speak of the horrors that she witnessed against the Armenian/Christian minorities in that region done by the Muslim majority. She is a real human rights champion for Christians in that forgotten part of the world. And, if it is up to the MSM, it will stay mostly hidden and forgotten. That way, the theme, "Muslims are the victims of the world," can continue along. The religion-of-peace followers can rake in billions in aid and benefit from gallons of black ink used Western journalists to support their status as the forever downtrodden and misunderstood.
Of course in the mists of time, when no one was looking, no doubt Muslims destroyed monuments, churches, temples, cemeteries, statuary and artifacts of every kind. But that was then, you think to yourself.
And this is now. And now, in the full light of history, knowing that they are being watched, surely they will not do such things. Surely, in this new 21st century, Muslims everywhere will watch their steps, and not desecrate, vandalize, destroy as before.
But then you look only at what has happened since the new century began, since 2000. And here is a tentative list off the top of my head:
Bamiyan Buddhas, 1,500 years old, in Afghanistan, destroyed by Taliban with explosives, and technical help from Saudi and Pakistani engineers.
Tomb of Joseph in Israel, reduced to rubble by the "Palestinians," despite that site supposedly being sacred to Muslims as well as to Jews.
A Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur, where Hindus and Chinese both labor under the disguised Jizyah of the Bumiputra system.
Orthodox churches and monasteries, destroyed in Kosovo and Bosnia, in full view of NATO troops, the U.N., and the world's media.
And then, of course, the thousands of churches destroyed in Indonesia, as recorded by the Barnabas Fund.
The remaining Greco-Bactrian artifacts among the tiny holdings in the Kabul Museum.
The damage done to the Temple Mount structure by the excavations and vandalism to Solomon's Stables from the "Palestinians."
Statuary vandalized by Muslims -- both Christian statuary in a church in northern France, and pagan statuary in the Piazza del Popolo.
Oh, these are just things that come off the top of one's head. Should one recall the damage done to the Parthenon by Turkish Muslim troops, or to the Sphinx by generations of Muslim Arabs in Egypt, or to damage to the monuments of classical antiquity or left by oteer pre-Islamic civlizations, all of which are, in the Muslim view, worthless, part of a general Jahiliyya (time of ignorance), and not to be treated with respect or interest.
Start your own list. Do wat Sita Ram Goel and Indian scholars did in compiling merely a list of the thousands of Hindu temples destroyed by Muslim invaders. Make up a list, for example, of the Christian churches of Constantinople, for five hundred years the richest, most important city in all of Christendom.
Go ahead. Now look that list over. Now think about the Louvre, the Prado, the National Gallery, the Uffizi, the Alte Pinakothek, the Rijksmuseum. Think of what those who followed the strictures of the late Sheik Bin Baz, or the still-living Al-Qaradawi, or the primitve Ahmadinejad, would do to the contents of all those.
What do you propose to do about it?
Why are we so shocked?
What did we expect?
Inherent beauty has no value (unless it is only 6 years old) in the Islamic mind. Nor has the idea of nonIslamic culture. They make the primitive man at all times seem sophisticated by comparison as each of these appreciated their past.
The "civilised" facade of all Muslims is just a paperthin veneer covering atrocious Islamic barbarism which tries to burst through constantly.
They have never changed one iota over ~1400 years. Why do we contstantly expect better of them? We have no real right to do so. Just read the Koran.
They are so uselessly predictable that, as some wit said, "if this were Soylent Green, we would not be even able to eat them without dyspeptic nad hypermotility repercussions".
I don't know how applicable this might be, but would Google Earth be able to show a picture of the site?
I'm not very software-savvy, so have no idea of if it can be done. If we could get a satellite picture of the area, surely we would know how much damage we can add to the list so far.
L.Drummond
"A diplomatic row at the EU...." Oh that will stop the sacrelige.
I can think of nothing, absolutely nothing the fanatics fear more than international, diplomatic opprobium.
During the '30s, the appeasers censored news reports about the Third Reich, because they thought to report the unvarnished truth would harm the chances of concialating the Fuherer.
That's what we're seeing now.
The elite and the appeasers are censoring reports from islam, lest by reporting the truth, certain "sterotypes" form in the minds of Westerners. The elite are trying to protect us from, I suppose, our latent and native prejudices, always ready I take it, to rise to the fore, and overwhelm reason.
They think that by diminishing the horrors, and by not detailing the lurid details, that they can help to advance the multi-cultural appeasing agenda.
It's all squalid, utterly squalid.
I think that this is vengeance. The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, surrounded, poorly armed, and oilless, inflicted such a crushing defeat on the Azeris that the Azeris, oil and all, have not been able to even dare to attack them again in ten years. Unable to avenge themselves on the living, they avenge themselves on the dead - Muslim valour and gallantry on display.
"This [Armenian Christian] site has no value: it is not Islamic."
Actually, it does have value to the Muslim vandals: a negative, pernicious value.
From elsewhere which I hope is of interest.
This is terrible news that should send ice water down our collective spines. Do the Italians and others who have benefited from the beauty passed down by artistic genius have to be reminded that all of their treasures are at risk of going the same way as the above mentioned? Micheangelo's Pieta, the Sistine Chapel, the Arch of Titus? If the maurader's destroy the Arch of Titus they can say, "See, there is no proof of Jews ever being in Jerusalem." It's a fiction.
Hugh asked what will we do? I would answer that but I don't want to be 86'ed from this site and wait for a knock at my door. Once the words are spoken can they be put back in and forgotten? It's fair to say that waiting for the other shoe to drop is not an option. Shall we stop thinking that what's coming is still 'round the corner? We're just waiting to -- for someone else to take action and organize -- what? To be ready to take bold action and ...? Do we risk nothing and die quietly in our beds or do we try to stop what we know is coming like a slow train. Where do we begin, how?
Of course those devils had to destroy them, they were crosses. If you want to see a Mohammedan get really angry, wear a cross in his/her presence. They can't stand to look at one or be in the presence of one, especially if it is a Crucifix with Jesus Christ on the cross.
This is all in a day's work for mos. The destruction is uniform across all cultures. In my city, there is a 3000 year old fort on a plateau. There are Jain statues like the Bamiyan Buddhas carved on the incline on both sides. They are big, 100 ft. or about. When the muslims invaded, they also damaged these statues. Fortunately, the Rajputs took over the fort before they could destroy them all. And there they stand still, proud and majestic. But we were able to save very little of our heritage.
"There are Jain statues like the Bamiyan Buddhas carved on the incline on both sides. They are big, 100 ft. or about. When the muslims invaded, they also damaged these statues. Fortunately, the Rajputs took over the fort before they could destroy them all. And there they stand still, proud and majestic. But we were able to save very little of our heritage."
-- from a posting above
One opens "The World of Islam" by Ernst J. Grube (Curator, Islamic Department, Metropolitan Museum of Art), part of the series "Landmarks of the World's Art," and finds on p. 165 a picture of the "Kutb Mosque (Quwaat al-Islam) Delhi" shown and described:
"Built by Kutb al-din Aibak in his fortress of Lallkot near Old Delhi in 1193. This mosque is the earliest extant monument of Islamic architecture in India and its combination of local, pre-Muslim traditions and imported architectural forms is typical of the earliest period. The mosque is built on the ruins of a Jain temple..."
So the earliest "extant monument of Islamic architecture in India" was "built on the ruins of a Jain temple" -- that temple being made into "ruins," of course, by the Muslim invaders.
Hugh-
I'm sure that Jain temple was in such disrepair (one hinge on a door was a little loose, I heard) that the Muslim invaders did them a favor by re-habbing the site entirely.
Think of Islam as an Extreme Make-over.
Here is a link to a list churches in France which have been attacked over the last few years. Not all of the perpetrators are followers of Mohammed but most probably are.
There are 18 recorded events in 2006 alone. They range from simple break-ins to total arson
http://sosfrance.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4291
a small photo can be seen here http://www.associations-patrimoine.org/fnassem/461/473/1444.asp
I'm not at all certain anybody in authority really cares.
"Nations who do not know their national identity will become the prey of other nations" Ataturk
Sebastien: unfortunately, since at least the Combes government (1905), the French national identity is anti-Catholic. Intellectuals and politicians have collaborated in uprooting the French church till what is left of the national church of the nineteenth century is a small, neglected and powerless minority. The destruction of churches is a proud French tradition; Muslims have not yet done one-twentieth of the harm that Combes did, with such heroic deeds as sending the army to clear the peaceful silent monks from the Grande Chartreuse - let alone the Revolution before him. Muslims are simply following in the proud tradition of the Goddess Reason.
Just like Iran: "Our nuclear plants will serve only peaceful purposes. No, you can't verify our claims. You'll just have to take our word for it."
"(Oh, and by the way, death to Boosh, death to Amrika, death to Izrail.)"
From the link posted above, that lists anti-vandalism and desectation of churches, Christian monuments, statues, cemeteries since late 2003:
2003
26 NOVEMBRE. L’église Saint-Pierre d’Arène à Nice est vandalisée - vitraux brisés, mobilier renversé et statuette de la Vierge fracassée - des « actes gratuits » selon la presse locale.
30 NOVEMBRE. Deux églises de Bayonne vandalisées.
8 DÉCEMBRE. Occupation de l’église Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet par des sans-papiers à l’initiative des politiciens Verts de la mairie de Paris. L’église avait été récemment victime de dégradations avec notamment le jet sur la façade de sacs en plastique remplis de peinture …
9 DÉCEMBRE. Une église de Terrasson (Dordogne) a été vandalisée, des croix gammées ont été tagguées (on parle dans la région d’un coup monté destiné à incriminer l’extrême droite).
18 DÉCEMBRE. A Pantin (Seine-Saint¬Denis), des personnes âgées chrétiennes, qui se rendent sur la tombe de leurs proches dans le cimetière municipal, sont volées et battues par des Jeunes. Même « fait divers » le 25 décembre.
26 DÉCEMBRE. A Bayonne, après la messe de minuit, un prêtre de 65 ans est agressé.
2004
JANVIER. L’église St-Jean-Baptiste de Riedisheim (Haut-Rhin) vandalisée
16 FEVRIER. A Montpellier, temple protestant vandalisé et église catholique incendiée. Livres liturgiques brûlés, chapelle profanée, bibles et hosties jetées à terre.
23 FÉVRIER. A Rouen, incendie de l’ancienne chapeUe du lycée de la Providence-Miséricorde.
6 et 13 MARS. Dégradation d’une soixantaine de tombes catholiques au cimetière de Riedisheim, Alsace.
28 MARS. Occupation de l’église St-Martin à Roubaix par des grévistes de la faim guinéens.
4 AVRIL. A Lancrans, taggages injurieux sur la chapelle des Contrebandiers, pièce du patrimoine historique de la commune.
12 AVRIL. Des individus mettent le feu à la Bible ouverte à tous sur un présentoir à l’entrée de la chapelle du séminaire catholique à Ostwald (Alsace).
15 AVRIL. Profanation d’une église dans la Loire
26 AVRIL. La grotte de Lourdes, à Widensolen, a souvent été victime de vandalisme. Cette fois, c’est la statue de la Vierge qui a été descellée et brisée.
30 AVRIL. Pillage de la chapelle Sainte-Rita, dans les Hauts-de-Seine.
1 er MAl. Le cimetière d’Amiens profané, 34 tombes dégradées, brisées ou déplacées. Crucifix retournés.
2 MAl. Trois profanations de cimetières en trois jours en Alsace, notamment à Niederhaslach, près de Molsheim.
7 JUIN. Nouvelle profanation du cimetière et de l’église de Niederhaslach.
5 JUILLET. Profanation de la Vierge et de l’Enfant Jésus dans la chapelle de Notre-Dame de Consolation à Floing. Les deux statues ont été retrouvées décapitées. Les mains de l’Enfant Jésus avaient déjà été arrachées quelques jours plus tôt. La précieuse statue provenait de l’abbaye du Mont-Dieu à Mouzon, où elle avait échappé aux destructions des sans-culottes.
17 DÉCEMBRE. Profanation d’une église en Corse sur fond de satanisme et de « messe noire».
2005
15 FÉVRIER. Cimetière catholique profané à Nice.
23 FÉVRIER. Incendie à Amiens de l’église St-Fuscien.
16 MARS. A Sartrouville (Yvelines),jets de cocktails Molotov sur l’église Jean XXIII.
2 MAl. Près d’Epernay (Marne), actes de profanation et de vandalisme dans l’église abbatiale d’Orbais. Reliquaires endommagés. Les reliques de Saint-Réol, 27e archevêque de Reims et fondateur de cette abbaye bénédictine en 677, ont disparu, de même que celles de saint Prix, lui aussi ancien prélat de Reims. Les statues de sainte Jeanne d’Arc et de saint Joseph ont été abîmées. Les lieux sont parsemés de déjections.
5 MAI. Dans la région de Lodève (Hérault), quatre adolescents avouent avoir pillé et vandalisé une vingtaine d’églises.
16 MAI. 40 tombes profanées dans le village de Vmcey au nord d’Epinal dans les Vosges.
17 MAI. 21 tombes détruites dans le petit cimetière de Segonzac (Dordogne). Deux jeunes ont été interpellés. Ils s’en étaient également pris à un couple de personnes âgées, à qui ils ont tenté d’extorquer de l’argent, avant de frapper un autre habitant du village.
5 JUIN. Des militants de l’association homosexuelle Act-Up entrent en force dans la cathédrale de Paris sous les caméras de télévision et se livrent devant l’autel au “mariage” religieux de deux femmes, avant de scandant d’arborer des banderoles outrageantes et de taxer les catholiques d’homophobie. Tabassé et jeté à terre, le recteur de la cathédrale, Mgr Jacquin, qui avait poursuivi ses agresseurs au pénal, est débouté par la justice. TI a porté plainte au civil.
21 JUIN. 34 tombes profanées dans le cimetière de Villepreux (Yvelines).
15 JUILLET. L’église Saint-Pierre-Ie GuiUard incendiée à Bourges.
18 JUILLET. A Mulhouse, incendie de l’église Don-Bosco par «deux jeunes majeurs », déjà «très défavorablement connus des services de police». Les pompiers avaient été mobilisés toute la nuit pour éteindre l’incendie.
21 JUILLET. Nouvelle profanation de tombes catholiques au cimetière de Niederhaslach, en Alsace.
25 JUILLET. Incendie de Notre-Dame de Bourges.
30 SEPTEMBRE. La Nonciature apostolique à Paris victime d’un casse, commis par trois “Yougoslaves” (Tziganes).
2 OCTOBRE. Explosion criminelle à la cathédrale de Limoges. Des vitraux, dont certains du XIVe siècle, sont gravement endommageés. Trois des incendiaires, des Jeunes, ont été arrêtés.
DÉBUT NOVEMBRE. Profanation au cimetière de Bayonne du caveau familial du cardinal Lavigerie, archevêque d’Alger de 1866 à 1892.
1 er NOVEMBRE. Cimetière de la Teste-de-Buch profané en Gironde. Jean-François Acot-Mirande, maire (PS) de cette commune des bords du Bassin d’Arcachon, s’est dit « choqué par de tels actes en ce jour de souvenir en mémoire des disparus ».
6 NOVEMBRE. Jet de cocktails Molotov contre l’église de Liévin (Nord).
7 NOVEMBRE. A Sète, jet de cocktails Molotov contre le presbytère de l’église de l’Ile de Thau.
11 NOVEMBRE. Profanation par « trois mineurs » du cimetière de Nanteuil-Ies-Meaux (Seine-et-Marne).
11 NOVEMBRE. Dévastation par des Jeunes de l’église polonaise et du presbytaire de Houdain (Pas-de-Calais). Le Père Jean Bojda, qui dormait, a failli périr brûlé vif.
15 NOVEMBRE. Grave incendie criminel à Romans (Drôme), par quatre mineurs, tous « défavorablement connus des services de police », de l’église Saint-Jean-d’Ars dont la toiture est totalement détruite.
23 NOVEMBRE. Des feux ont été allumés intentionnellement en plusieurs endroits de l'église Notre Dame de Moret-sur-Loing (Seine-et-Marne).
24 DECEMBRE Une crèche de Noël installée dans l'église Saint-Hilaire de Poitiers a été détruite par un incendie d'origine criminelle.
Dans la nuit du 24 au 25 DECEMBRE En Moselle, la crèche en bois grandeur nature, installée par le maire au carrefour de la rue Principale et de la rue des Peupliers menant à Biding, a subi les outrages d'individus sans scrupules.
Saint Joseph a été arraché de son socle et emmené, la mangeoire réduite en morceaux et l'enfant Jésus volé également.
30 DECEMBRE La cathédrale de Perpignan mise à sac.
Dans l'Aude, vandalisme dans un cimetière (Plusieurs sépultures ont été saccagées : une pierre tombale enfoncée, plusieurs plaques en marbre cassées, divers objets déplacés : crucifix, vierges, vases de fleurs...)
Quelque 70 églises lorraines - dont une trentaine en Moselle seule et une vingtaine dans la Meuse -, ont été visitées en 2005 par des voleurs qui opéraient de nuit, n'hésitant pas à briser des vitraux pour pénétrer dans les églises.
2006
18 JANVIER Une enquête de police a été ouverte après un deuxième feu en 15 jours, probablement d'origine criminelle, survenu mercredi soir à l'intérieur de la cathédrale Saint-Jean de Besançon (Doubs). A chaque fois, le soir en semaine, le feu a pris sur un banc éloigné des bougies.
22 JANVIER A Orange (Drôme), le feu a détruit une bannière historique à l'intérieur de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame, appartenant aux Amis la chapelle de Gabet qui ont déposé plainte.
19 FEVRIER La commune de la Côtière dans l'Ain, les vitraux de l'église ont été pris pour cible par des vandales.
Depuis septembre 2005, on recense une douzaine de vols commis dans des églises du nord Drôme et du Tricastin. Des objets religieux de grande valeur ont été dérobés, notamment à Valaurie et Châteauneuf-de-Galaure. La Drôme n'est apparemment pas le seul département touché. Des faits similaires se seraient produits dans tout le sud-est.
23 FEVRIER Un violent incendie a ravagé l'ancien couvent des Ursulines, appelé le Sacré-Coeur, en plein centre de Ploërmel (Morbihan). Des neuf bâtiments qui composaient l'ensemble dans lequel s'inséraient une chapelle et un cloître du XVIIe siècle, "il ne reste que des murs calcinés".
13 MARS Une dizaine de sépultures a été la cible d’un ou plusieurs profanateurs, dans le petit cimetière de Combrée (Maine et Loire).
14 MARS Tags insultant Jésus sur le mur, côté entrée, de l’église de Moulins-Saint-Pierre en Moselle.
19 MARS A Erquinghem-le-Sec ( Nord), Marie-Védastine, une cloche datant de 1868 a été volée. Elle était installée depuis tout juste deux ans sur un piédestal et sous verre, sur la place de l’Église.
21 MARS A Saint-Genès-de-Blaye (Gironde), des dégâts ont été commis dans la petite église du village. La Vierge brisée, Saint-Antoine de Padoue décapité, l'autel renversé. Tout a été chamboulé y compris le tabernacle, les nappes, les chandeliers, un crucifix, les livres de chant, les cierges ...
29 MARS Une douzaine de tombes profanées, dans le cimetière d'Acy, dans l'Aisne.
22 AVRIL Anne-Marie, la cloche (900kg) qui ornait le parvis de l'église Sainte-Anne de Gassicourt, à Mantes-la-Jolie (Yvelines), a été volée.
26 AVRIL Pérenchies (Nord), des stèles cassées dans le cimetière. Il s'agit de tombes de militaires morts pendant les deux guerres.
2 MAI Métropole Lilloise, la statue du Bon dieu noir a été volée. La grotte en galets, située au lieu-dit qui porte le nom de la statue, à proximité du parc de loisirs et de la nature, est effectivement bien vide.
Cette statue fait partie intégrante de la cité loossoise. La chapelle avait été bénie le 10 septembre 1882 et la statue avait été restaurée il y a trois-quatre ans.
2 MAI Deux enfants de 8 et 9 ans ont avoué être les auteurs de dégradations commises sur vingt-cinq tombes du cimetière du village de Barzan en Charente-Maritime.
2 MAI A Roche-la-Molière, dans la Loire, des jeunes, au nombre de sept ou huit, ont décidé de prendre la maison paroissiale pour cible, à coups de cailloux. Des jeunes, au nombre de sept ou huit, ont caillassé la maison paroissiale. Une animatrice de pastorale a été blessée (une fracture à la main et cinq jours d'ITT).
12 MAI Une partie d'un vitrail de l'église Sainte-Élisabeth d'Attiches (Nord) a été cassée. Ce vitrail a été abîmé dans le but d'observer ce que l'église contenait. Rien n'a été dérobé car le lieu saint ne contient rien de valeur.
14 MAI Une chapelle a été détruite par les flammes à Laillé en Ille-et-Vilaine.
16 MAI Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas de Calais). Dans la nuit, un groupe d’individus s’est introduit dans l’enceinte du cimetière de l’Est. Ils s’en sont pris à environ deux cents monuments.
De nombreuses plaques funéraires et des vases ont été brisés, après avoir été projetés sur les tombes, des croix ont été décollées ou cassées, des vierges en bronze, fixées dans les monuments à l’aide de tiges filetées, ont été arrachées et projetées au sol… Sur la tombe d’un enfant de six ans, un ange en porcelaine a même été brisé.
20 MAI Deux cimetières profanés dans le Pays-Haut.
11 tombes, 2 croix, 2 calvaires, ainsi qu'une statue de la Sainte-Vierge ont été profanés le week-end dernier dans le Pays-haut, entre Fermont et Chénières. Profanation de 13 tombes et monuments funéraires des deux cimetières de Fermont (commune de Montigny-sur-Chiers), du saccage complet d'une statue de la Sainte-Vierge, ainsi que la profanation de deux calvaires de la commune de Chénières.
Les casseurs ont opéré méthodiquement sur les tombes anciennes surmontées d'une croix du Christ. A chaque fois, le haut du monument était décapité net ou brisé en plusieurs morceaux à coups de pierre. Sur leur route, des individus ont emporté une statue de la Vierge avant de la détruire sur les lieux de leur premier forfait.
This is a partial list. And of course it does not contain a list the Jewish sites (of which there are far fewer), especially cemeteries, given similar treatment.
allah only wants dark and hostile......Destroy anything that makes people happy.
My French isn't good, but did I get that right,
26 April last year, the grotto at Lourdes and the statue of the BVM trashed????
And molotov cocktails in other churches?
Then it's even worse than I thought.
That list Hugh provided records acts of vandalization and destruction of churches, cemeteries, parishes, etc. -- including:
arson,
decapitation of statues (of Mary of the infant Jesus in one place, and of St. Anthony in another place),
undefined "profanation" of various religious paraphernalia,
molotov cocktails thrown,
graffiti insulting Jesus on a wall,
a group of "youths" throwing stones (sound familiar?) at a parish resulting in the injury of a female worker there,
elderly Christians who were visiting graves at a cemetery beaten up by "youths";
and much more.
No mention in those reports of Muslims: mostly "youths" (jeunes, mineurs -- even in one case children (enfants) age 8 and 9); and we all know what the PC French euphemism "youths" has been used for. Only two of the cases Hugh lists seem to be clearly non-Muslim: one, some gay activists barged into the Cathedral of Paris to perform a lesbian marriage on the altar (they apparently also beat up the rector); another was the "profanation" of a church involving "Satanists" and their "black Mass". One incident was caused by some "Yugoslavians" then in parentheses clarified as "Gypsies" (Tziganes); though with the irresponsible reportage of news reporters, we cannot be sure those were not Muslims.
Hugh's list led me on a mild goose chase on Google, whereupon I felicitously stumbled upon a French site called Le Salon Beige wherein, after searching for "islam", I came upon a similar list of incidents in various hospitals and clinics in France where staff have had various run-ins with Muslim patients (e.g., two Turkish men coming in to a clinic demanding that a 12-year-old girl they brought in with them be given a "certification of virginity"; other Muslim men yelling and threatening staff when it could not be guaranteed that their females would be examined and treated only by female nurses & doctors; one Muslim doctor using his office to teach the Koran; etc.).
"Hugh's list led me on a mild goose chase on Google, whereupon I felicitously stumbled upon a French site called Le Salon Beige wherein, after searching for "islam", I came upon a similar list of incidents in various hospitals and clinics"
Grim isn't it?
There is a resistance here. It's mostly directed at helping Philippe de Villiers as much as possible for the May 2007 Presidential elections. With 4 % in the polls he doesn't have much of chance but he is saving the honour of France. Anyway I'm not going anywhere soon and neither are my islamophobic friends.
There are 2.5 reasons the resistance in France has difficultly getting off the ground. The first is highlighted by Paolo: The catholic church is perceived as a historic embarrassment unless they are actively helping the 'poor oppressed immigrants'.
The second is a anti american reflex which is a transposition of their mistrust of Great Britain which goes back to the Norman conquest.
The .5 is anti semitism. I only give it a .5 because I don't know of a single resistant here who doesn't believe that Israel is a hero nation. It however 'feels' politically incorrect to publicly talk about Israel as if it's a normal nation deserving existance. Anonymous internet polls here suggest that the vast majority do not dispute israel's right to exist. I can look for a link if someone asks.
I have no qualms telling the people in my entourage about the evil of Islam and in many cases it seems to liberate their islamophobia.
I think my destiny is to liberate the Islamophobia of others.
Its a little like primal scream therapy.
"Release your inner Islamophobe"?
Sounds like a Community College course.
I hope coming soon to a neighborhood near you.
Twenty Koran suras should do it.
Hugh
In the Qutb ul Islam mosque that you cite above, various statues of Hindu gods/goddesses were used as stepping stones to that mosque, in tribute to that legendary tolerance of Islam
The hatred and intolerance of Azeris towards Armenians is a very real phenomenon that the majority of westerners have no clue about.
Several years ago, I dated an Armenian woman named Yelena who was a refugee from Baku, Azerbaijan who re-settled to Washington State in the U.S. Her Armenian family had roots in Azerbaijan before they were forced to leave this Muslim country in the early 1990's.
Why were they forced to leave Azerbaijan?
They were Armenian Christians.
Yelena described to me how the Azeris hated her family because they were Armenian Christians. She said that Azeris discriminated against them at every level of their society and forced them to leave.
Thankfully, the U.S government accepted a large number (exact count unknown) of oppressed Armenian refugees in the early 1990's and gave them the right to become U.S. citizens.
American Christians sponsored many Armenian families in their own homes until they could get resettled in the U.S.
I will never forget some of the stories that Yelena told me about how her family was insulted and even spit upon because they were Armenian Christians.
Yelena's Armenian ancestors were also victims of the Armenian holocaust in the early 1900's.
The Armenian holocaust is another topic that many people in the west fail to understand.
This is a very informative link. Read here:
http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Armenian_Genocide
Hugh,
That Qutub mosque is actually a part of the Qutub Minar complex which is a world heritage site. Ironically it stands on the rubbles of 27 Hindu-Jain-Buddhist temples. See ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qutub_Minar )... They used the materials from the ruined temples itself to contruct what was then the largest mosque in India.