An informative interview with the groundbreaking pioneer of the study of dhimmitude and author of Eurabia. "'The protocols of the elders of Brussels,'" from Haaretz, with thanks to M:
The original sin is attributed to Charles de Gaulle. Disappointed by the loss of the French colonies in Africa and the Middle East, as well as with France's waning influence in the international arena, the president of France in the 1960's decided to create a strategic alliance with the Arab and Muslim world to compete with the dominance of the United States and the Soviet Union. This alliance became the position of the European Community (pre-European Union) during the course of the 1970s, when an extensive European-Arab dialogue developed. However, this alliance, in the context of which Europe allowed the immigration of millions of Muslims to its territories and adopted an anti-Israeli and anti-American policy, will ultimately - and in fact has already - transform Europe into a continent under the thumb of the Arab and Muslim world. Europe is dead, and in its stead "Eurabia" has arisen.This controversial thesis belongs to Bat Ye'or, the pen name of a self-taught Jewish intellectual who was born in Egypt and who currently lives in Switzerland. She refuses to reveal her real name for security reasons, she says, but her thesis is just the prologue to far-reaching conclusions and extreme statements about some European leaders who are kowtowing to Islam. While her ideas were once almost completely ignored, nowadays, because of the prevailing consternation in Europe regarding its complex relations with the Muslim world, she is receiving more attention, though she is still quite far from entering the European mainstream.
Last week she was invited to Jerusalem to speak at a conference of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the study of Antisemitism at Hebrew University. "This is a matter of a total transformation of Europe, which is the result of an intentional policy," says Bat Ye'or in an interview. "We are now heading towards a total change in Europe, which will be more and more Islamicized and will become a political satellite of the Arab and Muslim world. The European leaders have decided on an alliance with the Arab world, through which they have committed to accept the Arab and Muslim approach toward the United States and Israel. This is not only with respect to foreign policy, but also on issues engaging European society from within, such as immigration, the integration of the immigrants and the idea that Islam is part of Europe."
Bat Ye'or's most recent book, "Eurabia - The Euro-Arab Axis," which was published in English in 2005, could not have been published at a better time as far as she is concerned, precisely when the question of the Muslim immigrants' integration into the continent and Europe's cultural coloration is coming up repeatedly for discussion. The terror attacks in Madrid and London, the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, the murder of the Dutch director Theo Van Gogh and the riots about six months ago in the Paris suburbs have made these questions more critical. Europe, with its pluralist and democratic ethos, has hesitated in its reaction to these phenomena, although today there is a move toward policy changes.
Europe's hesitation has helped bolster extremist attitudes toward Muslim immigration in particular. In the political realm, this is seen among the far-right movements. In intellectual circles, this is evinced inter alia by people like the provocative Italian journalist and writer Oriana Fallaci, Dutch member of parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and also Bat Ye'or. Although all of these individuals are opposed to the extreme right and its violence, they are warning that Europe as a secular, enlightened civilization with a Judeo-Christian background is dying. In its stead, says Bat Ye'or, will come a civilization subjugated to Islamic forces and their jihad ideology.
Read it all.
The early works of Bat Ye'or are undisputibly good analyses.
I also liked the factual part of Eurabia, but I think she overdid a bit on her interpretation of what is going to happen in Europe, and she sanctifies the US and Israel to a certain degree.
Having said that, Eurabia still is a necessary and useful book.
The U.S. and Israel offer the last, best hope for the civilized world. They deserve a little sanctification.
"The original sin is attributed to Charles de Gaulle"
For those interested in the background of French disdain for the English speaking world, and it's similar position with regards to the descendants of Judah in Israel, a Jewish scholar, Yair Davidy, has tracked the movement of the northern tribes of Israel to various countries in western Europe & Scandanavia. The French are predominately the descendants of Reuben, the eldest of Jacob's (Israel's) sons.
Those familiar with the Old Testament stories (or the Torah if you prefer) will recall that Reuben, the first born,lost his inheritance to a younger brother, Joseph, due to some sexual misadventure with one of old Jacob's mistresses.
Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manessah, inherited the primary blessings (agricultural and mineral wealth, military power, etc.), and according to Mr. Davidy's research, their descendants are now predominate in England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (Ephraim), and in the USA (Manessah).
Another brother Judah had a different blessing. Judah was to lead and teach, and they were to retain their separate identity until the time of a still future reconciliation.
Reuben obviously harboured some resentment at the loss of his inheritance, and that accounts for the French position through to this day to the descendants of Judah & Joseph (ie., the Jews and the English speaking world).
The other tribes migrated from their Assyrian enslavement to Ireland (Simeon), Wales (Gad & Dan), Scotland (Asher), Netherlands (Zebulon), Denmark (Dan), Norway (Naphtali), Sweden (Gad), Finland and Switzerland (Issachar).
It is an interesting hypothesis which does explain a lot about the French attitude. For those interested, a large section of this research is available at http://britam.org/3rd-Edition/Yair-Davidiy-The-Tribes.html
Ozi_bloke:
Yair Davidy is not the only person who has attempted to deduce where the various "tribes" of Israel went after the Roman conquest, but it's pretty fanciful, speculative stuff. Canadian film maker Simcha Jacobovici got into this too, having made a documentary back in the 1980s about the Falasha of Ethiopia and their dramatic rescue from total isolation in that country's hinterlands and growing persecution at the hands of the Communist government that succeeded Christian Emperor Haille Selassi's rule.
And I'm sure that long before the Roman conquests, there had been so much mixing between tribes and moving around within Israel and Sumaria as for such distinctions to be beyond discerning, except for the tribe of Levi, who survive to this day because rather than being tied to the lands left to whichever patriarch, Levite men alone were entitled to enter the priesthood, until later days, when this distinction fell to the Coheni sect.
Yeah, according to the Book of Mormon, the Lost Tribes of Israel are the American Indians!
The unspectacular fact is that, according to standard Assyrian policy of physically breaking up indigenous cultures, the population of the Kingdom of Israel was scattered throughout the Middle East, where they assimilated and disappeared. Some of their descendents are today Iraqi "Arabs!"
What an idiot De Gaulle was. He fought against the nazis in World War 2, only to bring about the destruction of his own country because of envy of the Americans.
Didn't he look around and see the Third world conditions of these Arab and muslim countries? So this is what he wanted to align France and Europe with?
How stupid can you get!
Ozi-bloke. It sounds as if you are influenced by a doctrine called Anglo-Israelism. It's a really peculiar phenomenon. It appears to have grown up n the late 18th and early 19th century, and in its original British form ,was mildly philo-Semitic. In its present-day American form, though, it is fiercely anti-Semitic.
For the record, this Presbyterian sees it as heresy. We're saved by grace, not race.
a doctrine called Anglo-Israelism
That would be the British Israelite Society. My grandfather was in that. He believed that one of the Lost Tribes of Israel had ended up in Bolton. That's pretty lost. I think they were a bit nutty.
"The U.S. and Israel offer the last, best hope for the civilized world. They deserve a little sanctification."
Don't underestimate Europe. The most important (and female) Deity of the Celts was the pig. All we have to do do is going back to our roots. ;-)
"The Protocols of the Elders of Brussels" is a good joke, not properly attributed. Came from Bruce Bawer:
http://www.hudsonreview.com/bawerWi06.pdf
There are only two scenarios:
1. Europe returns to its roots of WWII savagery against Jews and redirects it against its fifth column of Muslims.
2. Europe becomes paralyzed with apathy, confusion and defeatism, and allows its Muslims to multiply for several decades until they form a majority and subjugate the continent.
Bat Ye'or believes that the fate of Europe is scenario #2. She has lived in Europe for decades, she probably knows what she's talking about.
Time will tell.
Come now, we all know the Native Americans aren't Jews because they aren't circumcised.
Besides, they don't look like Jews.
I wouldn't call Europe's secular society "enlightened" by any category. Moral suicide and population suicide along with a misguided hatred towards the USA.
The only way for Europe to turn itself around is to rediscover its Christian roots, and thats why Poland is Europe's last hope.
For sure the "Ten Lost Tribes" of Israel are scattered throughout the world.
Some interesting speculation as to where, exactly, is found from time to time, but I have yet to see any reliable facts.
A valiant lady who will go down as the Bodaecia of our age.
When will Condoleeza Rice have her over for a chat?
interested-
I thought they ended up on the Isle of Scilly?
From the article:
Professor Robert Wistrich, head of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism, who invited Bat Ye'or to this conference during which she was interviewed said, according to the article that
"Bat Yeor's session was the stormiest one at the conference and one participant, a Muslim from France, burst out at her and charged that he was offended by her remarks."
As Bat Ye'or points out, most of the workings of Eurabia are hidden from the public view, but sometimes we can catch glimpses of it if we know what to look for. Super-Eurocrat and Italian Leftist PM Romano Prodi wants more cooperation with Arab countries. He talks about a free trade zone with the Arab world, but this implies the four freedoms of the EU, WHICH INCLUDES THE FREE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE. This is made clear in a document from 2003. This fact, and the implications of it, is virtually NEVER mentioned or debated in European media, although the potential complications are enormous:
http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations/euromed/conf/naples/index.htm
Sixth Euro-Med Ministerial Conference: reinforcing and bringing the Partnership forward
Brussels, 28 November 2003
The sixth Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Foreign Affairs Ministers takes place in Naples on 2 and 3 December. This initiative offers the EU's neighbouring partners, in exchange for tangible political and economic reforms, gradual integration into the expanded European internal market and the possibility of ultimately reaching the EU's four fundamental freedoms: free movement of goods, services, capital and people. Ministers are also expected to back the Commission's proposal1 to set up a Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue of Cultures, a Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly and a
reinforced European Investment Bank (EIB) lending facility to encourage private sector investment in the region.
Parallel steps have also been taken towards regional integration, including on trade, infrastructure interconnection and harmonisation
of regulations.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.311746780&par=0
Jun-16-06
It's time to look south and relaunch a new policy of cooperation for the Mediterranean, new Italian prime minister Romano Prodi said Friday in Brussels where he is attending a European Union leaders summit. Prodi was outlining a joint Italian-Spanish initiative which seeks to
provide countries facing the Mediterranean with "different" political solutions from those offered in the Euromediterranean partnership, launched in 1994 in Barcelona. Prodi said he had raised the issue also with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. "I have called on Mediterraenan countries and those interested in the Mediterranean for a joint operpation, which I
consider indispensable for Italy but also for the future of everyone".
The prime minister then explained that the Barcelona Process - whose best known aspect is the creation of the a free trade zone by 2010 -
is no longer sufficient and a new different approach is needed. "The countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean expect that from us" he added.
"It's time to look south and relaunch a new policy of cooperation for the Mediterranean, new Italian prime minister Romano Prodi said Friday in Brussels where he is attending a European Union leaders summit."
-- from a posting above
So far Prodi has been terrible, and all the signs promise more of th esame. The deux-riviste of Italy, not as hideous as the antisemitic and permanently anti-American Caruso (Bertinotti's pet) but bad. Look at his speech at the Europe-financed Library of Alexandria ("But where are the real books? Where are the real readers?"). Not only dumb (his brother Paolo Prodi is much smarter), but also, amazingly, dull. In the world of Italian politics and political commentary, where even the bad ones are reliably un-dull (the crook Berlusconi, the crook Andreotti, Sgarbi, et al.), and all kinds of people provide all kinds of interest (Fini and glamor-girl Prestigiacomo, the late Montanelli with his weekly history lessons in the Corriere, the late stately, plump Florentine book enthusiast Spadolini, the late Pertini, the street-walkerish Alessandra Mussolini, an unapologetic cheap chip off the old Il Granitico -- such dullness in such an environment is quite an achievement. Prodi achieves it.
He is the mirror-image of awful but comical Berlusconi. If allowed, he'll ruin Italy -- in a different, permanent, irreversible way.
http://www.islamonline.net/English/EuropeanMuslims/CommunityCivilSociety/2006/06/01a.shtml
Segregation Rather Than Integration
If European societies really wished for a two-way integration, they must stop demanding and start listening in order to lay the foundations for a fruitful dialogue. It is imperative that the majority representatives sit down with minorities and discuss, with an open mind and an open heart, all of the problems they have created for the minorities and the problems minorities have created for themselves. We must work to build a Europe, a Europe free of prejudices, a Europe bubbling with mutual respect and heart-felt openness. This can only happen if the rational European spirit mingles with the Eastern philosophical soul, paving the way for a true understanding.
Speakers of Dutch may be interested in viewing video interviews regarding the censorship by the University of Utrecht of Professor Emeritus Pieter van der Horst’s study on Islam.
Attached is a link with an interview with Bas de Gaay Fortman of the University of Utrecht, who denies any pressure has been applied on Professor van der Horst, to censor his lecture on Islam.
http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/tv/nps/nova/sb.20060620-p.rm?proto=rtsp&start=0:0:9:12.765&end=0:0:33:6.297
He maintains the discussions with van der Horst had been very friendly and collegial. The University had merely endeavoured to adapt the paper for the good of the Professor, as it is under his level, not scientific, it was questionable from the point of view of security considerations, and in addition, the University must continue co-existing with numerous Muslim students. The meeting with van der Horst had been conducted with four people, including the rector and a Muslim colleague.
Bas de Gaay Fortman from the University of Utecht ridiculed van der Horst’s suggestion about the possibility of an atomic Iranian threat. de Gaay Fortman audaciously ignores that already a few years ago already Iran’s then and now No. 2 leader, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, formally threatened Israel with nuclear annihilation: "If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate, because application of an atomic bomb would not leave any thing in Israel but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world," Rafsanjani said.
The following link provides an interview in Dutch with Professor van der Horst. He stands by his position that he was intimidated and humiliated during a meeting of one and a half hours. He finally withdrew substantial elements from his paper including from the version published, pertaining to Muslims in more recent history such as their complicity with Hitler during Second World War and in today's modern times. Professor van der Horst however, firmly believes in the scientific validity of his studies.
http://www.novatv.nl/link.cfm?table=VideoItems&key=videoitems_id&keyval=4838
Finally a link to a Dutch TV report on this news item
http://www.novatv.nl/index.cfm?ln=nl&fuseaction=videoaudio.details&reportage_id=4423
Free Speech,
"...but I think she overdid a bit on her interpretation of what is going to happen in Europe..."
I have not yet read Bat Ye'or's book, so I can't comment on that. I look forward to reading her book this summer at some point. But even if Bat Ye'or had overstated, and, heck, even if everything else she said was outright false, one simple fact makes it extremely likely that most of Europe will become Islamic by the end of the century: Demographics. European women have less than 1.5 children on average, and Muslim women in Europe have on average more than 3.5 children.* Unless this changes (or is changed) drastically, Europe will probably be mostly Muslim by the later part of this century. That Europe would maintain its (non-Muslim) traditions (in politics, law, and society) is the less likely of the two options.
*It is also generally true that degree of religiosity is positively correlated with the number of offspring (this is especially true in Islam), such that, overall, Muslims will become more strict in subsequent generations in Europe.
Waterdragon52 - "Yair Davidy is not the only person who has attempted to deduce where the various "tribes" of Israel went after the Roman conquest"
A quick history lesson...
The northern tribes were taken into captivity by the Assyrians over a thousand years before the Roman Diaspora, which impacted the Jews only. The Kingdom of Israel during the time of the Judges and the early kings (David, Solomon, etc.) consisted of all thirteen tribes. The northern tribes objected to the rule of the kings of Judah in Jerusalem, and their heavy taxation burden, so they separated and formed a separate kingdom under an Ephramite king. "No taxation without representation" was probably their rallying call.
The northern tribes took on the name Kingdom of Israel, and Samaria became their capital city.
The southern tribes, Judah, Levi & Benjamin, with some elements of the other tribes who fled to Jerusalem, remained with Jerusalem as their capital city, and they became the Kingdom of Judea. It was the descendants of the southern kingdom who suffered the Roman diaspora, and the Babylonian exile many years prior to that.
The Jews of today, whether in the land of Israel or still in the diaspora, include the descendants of Judah (the original Jews), the Levites, elements of other tribes, plus those who have converted to the faith of Judaism and are accepted by their Jewish bretheren as Jews.
Godefroi de Boulogne - "Yeah, according to the Book of Mormon, the Lost Tribes of Israel are the American Indians!"
This is completely at variance to what the Bible says. The Bible says that the northern tribes would migrate to the north and west, inhabit the islands (UK), become major military and economic powers, be blessed with agricultural and mineral wealth, and be a light to the gentile nations.
Who has fulfilled these roles so far?
Godefroi de Boulogne - "The unspectacular fact is that, according to standard Assyrian policy of physically breaking up indigenous cultures, the population of the Kingdom of Israel was scattered throughout the Middle East, where they assimilated and disappeared. Some of their descendents are today Iraqi "Arabs!"
Yes & no.
The Assyrians did move their conquered subjects to new lands on the borders of their kingdom. The conquered northern tribes if Israel were relocated in an arc around the north and eastern borders of the Assyrian empire, from the Caucus Mountains, around the Caspian Sea, and into present day Iran and Afghanistan. They were never scatterd throughout the ME.
They did retain their separate identity, and their awareness of their Hebrew background. One example comes to mind, the Parthians did come to the aid of Judah when the Egyptians tried to conquer Jerusalem. They actually attempted to resettle in Samaria but it didn't succeed, it wasn't God's time.
Their migration through the Caucus Mountains was completed a long time before the Arabs conquered Iraq, the Iraqi Arabs are all descendants of Ishmael.
Kepha - "Ozi-bloke. It sounds as if you are influenced by a doctrine called Anglo-Israelism."
A straw man argument Kepha. I have no detailed understanding of the doctrines of Anglo-Israelism, therefore I can neither support them nor deny them. I think their beliefs are based on old legends of Tea Telphi (Tea Tephi ?) and the Prophet Jeremiah at Tara. These legends may or may not contain some truth, I really don't know.
What we can do, as Mr. Davidy has done, is refer to the secular histories, studies of linguistics, archeology, etc. These confirm the north and western migration of the northern tribes, and perfectly match the Biblical prophesies.
I have also heard that in the USA (and probably elsewhere) that Anglo-Israelism doctrines are used by neo-Nazi and other anti-semite groups. Doctrines of hate don't interest me.
Kepha - "For the record, this Presbyterian sees it as heresy"
Kepha, as a Presbyterian, I assume you have some Scottish ancestry. Are you aware of the Scottish taboo on non-Kosher foods (you couldn't keep a pig in Scotland until after the English conquest). Did you know that the flag of Ulster (Presbyterian majority) featured a Magen David symbol? Were you aware that the Scots were strictly Sabbatarians for many long years? Did you know of the Isralite ancestry claims made by Braveheart, Robert the Bruce, etc.?
"We're saved by grace, not race"
100% agreement from me.
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Ozi, Levi was not a southern tribe, but rather was scattered throughout Israel as a special caste [or a group with special religious functions]. The kohanim [Cohens], the priests, were descended from Aaron son of Levi. DNA tests on men today who claim to be kohanim show an important distinctive marker among them, although it seems that not all Cohens today are descended from Aaron, brother of Moses.
The ten northern tribes were not totally exiled. Some, especially the lower classes, were left behind and either mixed with the Cuthaeans brought into Samaria by Assyria to settle there, producing the Samaritans, or migrated south to Judah and became part of that population, the ancestors of the Jews. The ten tribes were not exiled to Western Europe and I don't know this Yair Davidi, but I am dubious about his theories, if they parallel British Israelism. Apparently the tribes were deported to what are today Kurdistan, Armenia, elsewhere in the Caucasus, Afghanistan [some mingling with the mad Pathans], etc. There are various cultural survivals and remnants in those areas to confirm this. However, DNA studies would be most convincing.
Eliyahu, Shalom,
Thanks for the clarification, I was attempting to squeeze a lot of history into a few paragraphs. Yes, the Levites were the priestly tribe, they didn't have their own land allotment, and they lived in the cities of the other tribes.
I bundled them in with the southern tribes as most of them resided near the Temple in Jerusalem, and those that lived amongst the northern tribes made their way south when the northern tribes adopted Baal worship as the "official" religion (which is the reason they got kicked out).
I also did mention that a representative number from the northern tribes made it to Judea and avoided the Assyrian exile, and their descendants will be numbered amongst the Jews today.
I didn't claim that the northern tribes were exiled to western Europe, they migrated there themselves after the collapse of the Assyrian empire. This migration is recorded in the secular histories, which is the basis of Yair Davidy's research, together with a comprehensive understanding of Talmudic and Midrashim sources.
Ozi is that a tongue in cheek comment about the scots being jews. If not come on you can't be serious.
The British and the Scottish wouldn't be the first to mythologically appropriate Israel:
*COUGH!MohammedCOUGH!*
pissedoff - "Ozi is that a tongue in cheek comment about the scots being jews"
Hi pissedoff - You can imagine all the jokes based on the reported frugality of both of those people.
No, I didn't say that the Scots (which I believe is Hebrew for wanderer) were Jews. Research indicates that the predominate Hebrew tribe in Scotland is Asher. The Jews are from Judah, and those who adopt the religious pracices of the faith of Judaism. Asher and Judah were brothers, both sons of Jacob (Israel).
Ozi, glad to meet another free grace believer. Having a dash of Scots blood (although I have been shaped more by Jewish, Scandinavian, and Chinese cultures)and an education in history (ecclesiastical, ethnological, political, legal, etc.), I know a bit about some of the things of which you speak.
However, I doubt seriously that the Scots descend from Assher or any other sons of Jacob. "Wanderer" or "sojourner" in Hebrew is _gur_. The ethnonym _Scoti_ appears first in Roman sources, and is probably ultimately traceable to something said in the Celtic rather than Semitic languages that got filtered through a Latin-speaker's ear.
As for Sabbatarianism, I am fully cognizant that the Westminster Standards (Confession and Larger and Smaller Catechisms, 1647) enjoin a strict observance of a sabbath on the First Day (Sunday). As for keeping kosher, I am unaware of any point in these doctrinal statements that enjoin it. I don't know a single Calvinist in Taiwan or the Nanyang who'd turn away from a piece of pork--regardless of what their Scots brethren might have practiced.
Re Ulster, I note that a lot of Ulster Protestants are indeed pro-Israel--especially since the IRA calls for solidarity with its Falastin Arab fellow terrorists and sometime mentors.
Hi Kepha,
Yes, you are right WRT the Hebrew for wanderer. I was quoting from something I read earlier, and I mixed up some references - it's called a "Senior's Moment".
Here's the reference, from Yair Davidy's "The Tribes" Chapter 4 (speaking of the places of exile of the northern tribes):
"In this region were the Cadussi, who were a
Scythian people related to the Sakae, and, according to Pliny (N.H. 6; 18),
they called themselves "Gaeli". The Celts in Britain also called themselves "GAELI" and perhaps the name is derived from the Galilee in Israel. Alternately the name could be derived from the Hebrew "Goleh" meaning exile or wander. The Scots of Scotland also understand the name "Scot" to mean "wanderer."
http://britam.org/3rd-Edition/The-Tribes-Chapter-Four.html
In mentioning Sabbatarianism and Kosher dietary rules which applied in Scotland, I was referring to the Hebrew Friday evening to Saturday evening Sabbath, which the Scots observed up until 1100 AD. Other branches of the Christian Church gave up keeping the Sabbath around 300 AD on Constantine's instructions, except for the Church that Thomas established in India. They kept the Sabbath, and observed Passover and the other feasts, until the Portugese missionaries arrived (around 1400?) when they were forced to change their ways. Thomas, "Doubting Thomas", died a martyr's death near Madrass.
The point I was trying to make here was that the Scots observed Hebrew religious and dietary laws long before they adopted Calvanism. This obviously raises a question, where or why did they acquire these habits?, I don't think that there would have been many Jewish missionaries wandering around the Highlands then.
My best wishes to you.
Last post on this particular topic.
Before getting sidetracked in the Scottish Highlands, I was trying to make a point regarding the French atitude to the Israelis and the English speaking world.
The descendants of a significant portion of the French were of the Hebrew tribe of Reuben. After their Assyrian captivity, they migrated west and were known as the Rubeni Franks. They soujourned for a while on the Rhine (Frankfurt) before moving into present day France.
If we accept that there is some kind of a Jungian tribal collective unconscious, then the attitude which the French exhibit to some of their kinsmen could be attributable to a deep seated resentment Reuben must have experienced at missing out on the primary blessings, which went to his brothers Judah (today's Jews), and Joseph (the english speaking world).
Reuben, to his eternal credit, did redeem himself when his brothers, also angry at Joseph, wanted to kill him. Reuben demonstrated right judgement and forbade his brothers from killing Joseph, and he was sold off into slavery instead.
Which could also explain why the English speaking world always comes to the rescue of Reuben (France). Even though they know that won't change the French attitude to anything, there's also a debt due here.
Just a theory, something to ponder when you could be doing something more productive.