Recently in France Category

Apparently this was written by a member of the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria. Not that it has anything to do with Islam, of course.

"Church Vandalised in France: 'Death to France, Long Live Islam, Long Live Bin Laden,'" by Cheradenine Zakalwe for Islam Versus Europe, June 15 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

On Saturday morning a parishioner discovered the graffiti on the wall of the Saint John the Baptist church in Bourgoin-Jallieu. These were done with a marker on two pillars, and on a notice on a panel at the back of the church. The messages were signed GIA, which may be a reference to the armed Islamic group. [Armed Islamic Group of Algeria].

Source: LeDauphine.fr

A few years ago, Muslim cabbies at the Minneapolis airport began to refuse to carry passengers who were carrying alcohol. It became a big controversy, as some counter-jihad activists began asking whether the cab drivers would soon begin enforcing other Sharia rules upon their non-Muslim customers. Would they, for example, refuse to carry a passenger who had a ham sandwich? Such concerns were dismissed at the time as hysterical exaggerations of what was presented as a completely innocuous attempt by the cab drivers to exercise their religious freedom. But now, with this incident, we see the next step that we predicted all those years ago: the violent enforcement of Sharia provisions on non-Muslims -- in what still is, for the moment, a non-Muslim country.

"France: Attacked By Two Muslims Because He Was Eating A Ham Sandwich," by Cheradenine Zakalwe for Islam Versus Europe, June 12 (thanks to Blazing Cat Fur):

It sounds incredible but it is being treated with great seriousness by the police in Reims police station (Marne). A 23-year-old man filed a complaint on the 8th of June after having been attacked the previous evening at 9.30 pm in a city tramway by two strangers. They struck him several times on the face because he was eating a ham sandwich. The two attackers, who claimed to be Muslims, said they were offended by this consumption of pork in front of their eyes before attacking the young man. A witness, a friend of the young man who was present when the incident occurred, has been interviewed by the investigators and has confirmed the reality of the attack. The two attackers, who fled, have not yet been found. The CCTV tapes in the tramway are currently being examined.

Source: Le Parisien, Fdesouche.com

Eurabia is increasingly unsafe for those whom the Qur'an dubs the worst enemies of Islam (5:82).

"Unprovoked Attack on Jews in Lyon," from Israel National News, June 2 (thanks to Choi):

Anti-Semitism continues to plague France. According to local media outlets in Lyon, two Jewish residents of the city were attacked Saturday as they walked to a local synagogue.

The two were attacked by three men of Arab origin in an unprovoked, sudden assault.

The two Jews shouted for help. Neighbors began to arrive at the scene, and the attackers fled.

Police arrived as well, and began to investigate. They discovered that the attack had been captured on film by security cameras at a nearby store. Investigators expressed hope that the film would lead to the attackers’ quick capture.

One year ago attackers brutalized three Jewish men in an unprovoked assault in Lyon. Two of the victims were hospitalized.

A short time later the Chief Rabbi of Lyon received a letter threatening attacks on Jews.

Once again we see that intelligence services, hamstrung by political correctness and wishful thinking about Islam and jihad, as well as deeply compromised by Islamic supremacist agitators and infiltrators, are essentially useless.

"'Radical Muslim who stabbed French soldier was known to intelligence,'" by Henry Samuel in the Telegraph, May 29:

A 21-year-old arrested on suspicion of stabbing a French soldier in the neck in Paris was flagged up to French intelligence months ago over fears he has been radicalised, it has been claimed.

Alexandre D, as the French suspect has been called, was arrested in Yvelines, just west of Paris early on Wednesday morning at a friend's flat.

Police are seeking to determine whether the Paris attack might have been inspired by the Islamist murder of a British serviceman in London, although sources told Le Monde newspaper that French intelligence was recently warned the suspect, who converted to Islam around three years ago was "becoming increasingly radical".

The warning came in a note written by the police intelligence unit of the Yvelines area where Alexandre was arrested.

The note provides a fairly detailed account of the suspect's evolution towards a more radical form of Islam since 2009, pointing out that police had remarked he had "suspicious behaviour". Homeless and unemployed, Alexandre D applied for jobs in Rambouillet where he "demanded not to work with women". His passport included stamps from a host of countries.

The suspect also came under scrutiny after a street prayer in 2007 while authorities had his DNA profile on record after a series of petty rimes as a minor.

Detectives identified the suspect thanks to video footage, in which he can be seen praying near the crime scene eight minutes before the attack, as well as buying two knifes an hour before the attack. DNA was also found on items left at the scene in a plastic bag, including a knife and a fruit juice bottle.

"He owned up to the attack" shortly after his arrest, said Paris prosecutor François Molins, who added that he "acted in the name of his religious ideology".

The prosecutor denounced the tall, bearded suspect's "quite clear intention to kill" French serviceman Cédric Cordiez, 23, who was attacked from behind with a "Laguiole-type knife" on Saturday in Paris. He said the suspect had shown "impressive determination" in stabbing his victim "several times", narrowly missing his carotid artery.

In a statement, Manuel Valls, the interior minister, praised the swift arrest, saying an inquiry by anti-terror prosecutors would elucidate "the environment and motivations of this young man"....

No it won't, because you're bound and determined to pretend that what really motivated him doesn't exist.

Yet another convert to Islam misunderstands the religion that we must affirm as peaceful on pain on charges on "Islamophobia." Yet Muslims in France have no program to teach converts to Islam to reject the understanding of Islam that they ostensibly reject. And no one ever ponders the implications of that.

"French Police Arrest Suspect in Attack on Soldier," by Steven Erlanger for the New York Times, May 29 (thanks to all who sent this in):

PARIS — French police on Wednesday arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with the stabbing on Saturday of a French soldier in a Paris suburb, with officials describing the suspect as a fairly recent convert to Islam.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said in a statement that the suspect was arrested Wednesday morning in the Yvelines region just west of Paris, following the stabbing of Pvt. Cédric Cordiez in the neck from behind with a short-bladed knife. The attack took place in the shopping mall and underground transportation hub of La Défense, west of Paris.

Officials said at the time that the attack seemed an echo of the killing and stabbing to death of a British soldier on a London street last week.

The French suspect was known to investigators, Mr. Valls said, but he urged caution and said: “I cannot talk about radical Islam.” He said investigators wanted to know more about the suspect’s “motivation, background and family environment.”

The willful blindness is as strong as ever.

The police said he was identified thanks to video footage from the crime and traces of his DNA found on items left at the scene in a plastic bag, including a knife and a bottle.

On the French television channel i>TELE, Mr. Valls warned of a growing number of young radicals in France similar to Mohammed Merah, the Islamist gunman who killed seven people in and around the southwestern city of Toulouse last year.

Mr. Valls said there are “several dozen, perhaps several hundred, potential Merahs in our country,” saying young French Muslims were being “radicalized” on the Internet and by extremist imams.

He told Le Figaro newspaper that “no fewer than 120 French jihadists'’ were involved in fighting in Syria and about 60 percent of them were allied with Al Qaeda fighters. He said that about 30 had returned to France and were under surveillance by the French authorities.

The attacker, described by the police at the time as bearded and tall, approached Private Cordiez from behind while he was on patrol with two colleagues, stabbed him in the neck and then disappeared into a crowd. Sources close to the investigation have said to French news agencies that the suspect was seen on video praying a few minutes before the attack and that he was “a young, recently converted Islamist'’ already known to the police for his strong religious convictions and who had committed petty crimes in the past. But the same sources said that there was no indication of any tendency toward violence in his behavior....

Inspired by the jihad murder of a British soldier in London. "Paris police search for 'bearded man seen praying' before soldier attack," by Henry Samuel in the Telegraph, May 27 (thanks to Kenneth):

Police in Paris have obtained video footage of a bearded man "praying" shortly before he stabbed a French soldier in the neck, fuelling suspicions it was an Islamist terror attack.

The video appears to suggest that the Paris attack could be inspired by the Islamist murder of a British serviceman in London.

Anti-terrorism investigators now say they have "high quality images" of a "tall, athletic bearded man" aged about 30, possibly of North African origin, praying near the spot where he attacked the 23-year-old soldier from behind with a knife or a box-cutter on Saturday. He then fled into a crowded train station and is still at large.

"He was filmed praying near where the attack took place. After the attack he can be seen leaving the shopping centre of La Défense (business district)," a source close the investigation told Le Parisien.

The soldier, Cédric Cordiez, survived the midafternoon attack and was discharged from hospital this morning but is said to be "traumatised" by the stabbing. It was carried out three days after a British soldier was murdered on a busy London street by two men shouting Islamist slogans.

Manuel Valls, the French interior minister, said there are "elements that lead us to believe it (the French attack) could be an act of terrorism" and that police are now pursuing "serious leads".

"The photos have been shown to the other two soldiers who were on patrol with the victim and the four witnesses present at the scene of the attack," said a source close to the French investigation.

"They all recognised the author of the attack, who wasn't wearing a djellaba, contrary what some people have said."

He was reportedly wearing a small hat and dark clothes.

Police are conducting DNA tests after finding a bag near the crime scene with a box cutter, a sheath for a second knife, clothes and a half-finished bottle of fruit juice.

Mr Cordiez told Le Parisien he felt "fine and it's nothing serious."

But the soldier's girlfriend, Aurélie, said he was in a state of shock and bolted upright in his hospital bed when a nurse came in during the night, convinced it was his attacker "come to finish the job".

"He is really lucky to be alive. Two centimetres further, and it would have been his carotid (artery)," she said. "You'd expect this sort of thing if he was on a mission to Mali (where French forces are fighting Islamists) but you don't expect that in Paris."...

A major discovery in this willfully blind age. "France: Soldier's Stabbing 'Could Be Terror': Police are hunting for a man in his 30s as officials say the stabbing of a soldier in Paris bears the hallmarks of Islamic terror," from Sky News, May 26 (thanks to Kenneth):

The stabbing of a French soldier in Paris bore the hallmarks of Islamist terrorism and may have been inspired by the Woolwich attack, French officials have said.

Police are on the hunt for a bearded man aged about 35, possibly of North African origin, who fled into a crowded train station after attacking the soldier from behind.

"There are indeed elements that lead us to believe it could be an act of terrorism," Interior Minister Manuel Valls told France 5 television. He declined further comment citing the investigation.

The 23-year-old soldier survived the attack, carried out only days after Drummer Lee Rigby was hacked to death by two suspected Islamic extremists.

A spokesman for police union UNSA, Christophe Crepin, said there were similarities with the Woolwich attack.

"I think this person wanted to imitate what happened in London," he said.

His comment echoed remarks by the defence minister that the French soldier had been targeted because of his uniform.

President Francois Hollande and Mr Valls have both warned against jumping to conclusions about the attack.

However, Mr Valls did say that France faced a growing threat from an "enemy within", made up of Islamist radicals.

He said many of these radicals wanted to punish the country for sending troops to Mali to help drive back an offensive by Islamist rebels.

"When you meet the unbelievers, strike at their necks..." -- Qur'an 47:4

"French soldier stabbed while on patrol near Paris," by Nicolas Bertin for Reuters, May 25 (thanks to all who sent this in):

(Reuters) - A French soldier patrolling a business neighborhood west of Paris was stabbed in the neck and injured on Saturday by a man who fled the scene and is being sought by police, President Francois Hollande said.

The 23-year-old was patrolling in uniform with two other soldiers as part of France's Vigipirate anti-terror surveillance plan when he was approached from behind around 6 p.m. and attacked with a knife or a box-cutter.

A police union spokesman said surveillance footage of the attacker showed him as tall and bearded, aged about 35, possibly of North African origin and wearing a white Arab-style tunic.

Hollande, in the Ethiopian city of Addis Ababa, commented on the stabbing to say police were hunting for the attacker but did not provide any details about his identity or any possible motivation for the attack.

"We still don't know the exact circumstances of the attack or the identity of the attacker, but we are exploring all options," Hollande told journalists.

Three days after a British soldier was killed in a London street by two men who said they acted to avenge violence against Muslims, the attack near Paris raised questions about a possible copycat attempt to kill a French soldier.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls noted the similarity in an interview on France 2 TV saying the attacker was clearly trying to murder his victim, but he added that it was too early to offer any theories.

"Let's be prudent for now," Valls said of the attacker's identity and motivations. "Everything is being done to arrest this individual."

Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told journalists near the site of the attack: "The soldier was attacked because he is a soldier."...

Another "lone gunman" who was not acting alone at all, but as part of the global jihad and Islam's international war against the Jews. "France detains suspect in Toulouse killings investigation," from Reuters, May 18:

PARIS (Reuters) – French anti-terror judges ordered the detention on Saturday of a man on suspicions he aided an al Qaeda-inspired gunman prepare for a shooting spree last year, a judicial source said.

Mohamed Merah killed four Jews and three soldiers in and around the southern city of Toulouse in March 2012 before he was shot dead by police.

Anti-terror judges have put the unnamed 25-year-old detained man under formal investigation to determine whether he helped Merah steal a scooter that was used in the shootings.

Merah’s brother Abdelkader has also been in detention since March last year on suspicion of complicity in terrorism, murder and theft. He denies being an accomplice in the killings. Under French anti-terror laws suspects can be held for up to four without charges while an investigation is carried out....

Careful, monsignor! You might harm the wonderful dialogue!

"France: Priest Attacked by Muslim, Monsignor Denounces Muslims Taking Control of District," by Cheradenine Zakalwe for Islam Versus Europe, May 14 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

The day after the attack on Father Grégoire, Monsignor Cattenoz has spoken out strongly and denounces "people of the Muslim faith taking control of the district". The facts are taking on a political/religious dimension...

On Monday at around 8 pm, Father Grégoire from the parish of Saint-Jean was attacked by an individual. Struck on the face, the priest was unconscious on the ground until two other members of the parish arrived. This Tuesday morning at around 11 am, Monsignor Cattenoz, Archbishop of Avignon, denounced growing insecurity in the district of Saint-Ruf (while the local authority official in charge of public safety claims instead that there has been a decrease in crime in this sector), as well as the proliferation of thefts and threats towards members of the parish.

The leader of the Catholics in Vaucluse went even further: "People of the Muslim faith have progressively taken control of this district"... before proposing to create a committee bringing together representatives of the main religions, in order to calm the situation.

The local Muslim leader wasn't buying it:

The Avignonnese Mohammed Moussaoui, president of the French Council of the Muslim Religion, also wants to calm things down: "Before highlighting adherence to one or another religion, we need to see if the attack was accompanied by words or gestures associated with the religion. Giving it a religious dimension seems counter-productive to me."...

It might even be "Islamophobic."

Source: Le Dauphine

Yep, it's a real head-scratcher.

Video from Blazing Cat Fur (thanks to Pamela Geller).

This is a problem all over the West. Islamic supremacists target prisoners for recruitment because they have in them a population that is already alienated and aggressive -- and they preach to them a religion of aggression and alienation (from the Infidels and their society).

"France struggles to fight radical Islam in its jails," by Alexandria Sage for Reuters, May 7 (thanks to Saucy):

(Reuters) - In France, the path to radical Islam often begins with a minor offence that throws a young man into an overcrowded, violent jail and produces a hardened convert ready for jihad.

With the country on heightened security alert since January when French troops began fighting al Qaeda-linked Islamists in Mali, authorities are increasingly worried about home-grown militants emerging from France's own jails.

But despite government efforts to tackle the problem, conditions behind bars are still turning young Muslims into easy prey for jhadist recruiters, according to guards, prison directors, ex-inmates, chaplains and crime experts interviewed over the last few months by Reuters.

"I have parents who come to me and say: 'My son went in a dealer and came out a fundamentalist'," said Hassen Chalghoumi, imam of the mosque in Drancy, a gritty suburb north of Paris.

Malian Islamists have warned France it is a target for attacks, most recently in a video that came to light on Tuesday. This has added to concern in a country which, according to the Europol police agency, arrested 91 people in 2012 on suspicion of what it categorized as religiously-inspired terrorism.

These numbers are by far the highest for any European Union country, although tiny when compared with France's estimated 5 to 6 million Muslims, the overwhelming majority of whom are peaceful, law-abiding citizens.

France, which has Europe's biggest Muslim population, is not alone. International studies show that prison radicalization is a problem in countries ranging from Britain and the United States to Afghanistan. However, France stands out because over half its inmates are estimated to be Muslim, many from communities blighted by poverty and unemployment....

Yes, get rid of guns, and al-Qaeda will wither away. After all, when have they ever used any weapon other than guns? Of course, the murderer may not be an al-Qaeda member; he may be a lone jihadi killer, or even (conceivably) a non-Muslim who is attracted by al-Qaeda as the "strong horse." But if so, clamping down on gun ownership won't solve the problem, either. "Gunman kills three in 'random' shooting," from The Local, April 25 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Three people were killed in the south of France on Thursday when a gunman opened fire apparently at random in the southern town of Istres. French President François Hollande has sent his Interior Minister to the scene of the shooting.

A gunman opened fire with a Kalashnikov rifle in the southern French town of Istres on Thursday killing three people.

A 55-year-old woman was also left slightly injured after a bullet grazed her ear and police found a Kalashnikov automatic rifle in a ditch near the scene in the small town near Marseille, police sources said.

"Everything points to him having dumped it there after the shooting," one said, adding that the suspect was known to police for hoarding military weapons and had a history of psychiatric problems.

One of the victims, a man thought to be in his sixties, was shot dead at the wheel of his car, the other two were male pedestrians, both local men aged 35 and 45 respectively.

A witness to the incident described how the 19-year-old suspect had walked around with his rifle poised "as if he was out hunting" and might easily have killed more people.

"When a car drove up to him, he raised his rifle and pointed it at the driver. Luckily there was no one on the roundabout ahead and the driver did not stop. That saved his life."

The shooter was arrested not far from the scene at a roundabout on the road towards Romaniquette beach, near the city of Marseilles.

According to early reports in the French media the gunman opened fire at around 2pm in the middle of a busy street for reasons that are still unclear. He apparently aimed his weapon at people standing outside their homes.

Some reports in the French media suggest he had a history of mental illness but RTL radio station reported the man had claimed to belong to terrorist organisation Al Qaeda.

French President François Hollande, currently on a trade boosting mission to China, was immediately told of the killings.

He asked Interior Minister Manuel Valls to head to Istres.

Valls described the killing as a very worrying example of France's gun crime problem.

"It seems as if this person has opened fire with a very powerful weapon, a Kalashnikov," Valls said.

"It is clearly very worrying. It once again raises the problem of the number of weapons in circulation."...

Of course. Guns are the problem, not al-Qaeda. And certainly not the jihad doctrine.

Here's your motive, geniuses: Muhammad said that “the last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him” (Sahih Muslim 6985).

But the elites have already decided that the motive for such things can't possibly be found in Islamic texts and teachings, which are completely and utterly benign, and so they have to find the cause elsewhere. We see the same thing happening with the Boston jihad bombings.

"Escapee from psychiatric hospital slashes rabbi, son with box-cutter outside Paris synagogue," from the Associated Press, April 23 (thanks to Ali):

PARIS — An escapee from a psychiatric institution slashed a rabbi and his son with a box-cutter on Tuesday, prompting witnesses to tackle and subdue the attacker after a chase through a Paris synagogue, officials said.

The rabbi, who is in his late 40s, was recovering from surgery for a neck injury and his 18-year-old son sustained lesser injuries in the attack north of a touristic shopping area near Paris’ gilded Opera Garnier, according to police and judicial officials and Richard Prasquier, who heads CRIF, France’s largest umbrella organization of Jewish groups.

The assailant was of Iranian origin, and an official investigation was underway to determine a possible motive, Prasquier said. The attacker, now in police custody, had escaped from a psychiatric hospital near southeastern Lyon last week, said a police official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office, said the two victims had been wearing Jewish skullcaps, and the attacker was detained after a chase through the synagogue. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which monitors anti-Semitic incidents worldwide, said in a statement that the assailant screamed “Allah-u-Akbar” — or “God is great” — during the attack.

France is home to the largest Jewish community in Western Europe, at some 500,000 people, which has faced sporadic bouts of anti-Semitism over the years. In one of the country’s most wrenching episodes in recent years, three Jewish schoolchildren and a rabbi were shot and killed by a radical Islamic militant in March last year in the southwestern city of Toulouse.

For daring to fight back against jihadists in Mali. "Car bomb targets French Embassy in Libya," by Esam Mohamed for the Associated Press, April 23:

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- A car bomb targeted the French Embassy in the Libyan capital early Tuesday, wounding two French guards and a Libyan teenager in an attack that President Francois Hollande denounced as an assault not only on France but all countries engaged in the fight against terrorism.

Two years after the country's civil war, Libya is struggling to maintain security, build a unified army and reining in militias, which include rebels who fought to oust the country's longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

It was the first such assault on an embassy in the Libyan capital. On Sept. 11, four Americans - including the U.S. Ambassador in Libya Chris Stevens - were killed when militants attacked the U.S. diplomatic mission on the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.

Terrorists with al-Qaida's North Africa branch, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, are believed to have played a key role in the Benghazi attack. But no group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the French Embassy in Tripoli.

Last week, AQIM, threatened to seek revenge against all countries taking part in the French-led war in Mali, warning that no one who "participated in this ferocious attack" will be safe. It called on "all Muslims to target France and its interests and subjects inside and outside France until it withdraws the last soldier from the land of the Muslims and lifts its support of rulers of the region." That threat came as part of a question and answer session on AQIM's new Twitter account....

"They said they came to Pakistan to deepen their knowledge of Islam." And that was no lie -- that is exactly why they came to Pakistan. "Pakistan expels three suspected French jihadists," from AFP, April 4 (thanks to Lookmann):

Pakistan has deported three French nationals who planned to fight NATO forces in Afghanistan, officials said Thursday. The case is likely to draw parallels with Mohammed Merah, who shot dead seven people in 2012 after returning from Pakistan.

Pakistan has deported three Frenchmen who have been held in secret since they entered the country illegally 10 months ago to fight NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.

Investigators are expected to question the men in France, where the case is likely to draw parallels with Mohammed Merah, the 23-year-old who shot dead seven people in southwest France in March 2012 after returning from Pakistan.

Investigators said Pakistani police arrested the trio on May 28 last year after they entered the country illegally from Iran.

They were detained along with Naamen Meziche, another Frenchman of North African extraction previously known to Western security services as a presumed member of Al-Qaeda.

"They said they came to Pakistan to deepen their knowledge of Islam and to fight in Afghanistan," one investigator told AFP on condition of anonymity....

Officials say the three men left France in January 2012, telling their families in Orleans south of Paris that they were going on pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. But five months later they were detained in Pakistan....

"It follows threats from Al-Qaeda pledging 'revenge' for the French intervention in the African state of Mali to fight Islamic terrorists."

"BREAKING NEWS: 1,500 people evacuated from Eiffel Tower after anonymous phone call claimed explosives had been placed around landmark," by Peter Allen for the Daily Mail, March 30 (thanks to Darcy):

The Eiffel Tower was evacuated tonight following a telephoned terrorist bomb warning.

Some 1,500 people, including tourists and staff, were escorted out of France's most famous landmark shortly after 7.30pm.

It follows threats from Al-Qaeda pledging 'revenge' for the French intervention in the African state of Mali to fight Islamic terrorists.

Police said an anonymous call had been received from a phone booth in a Paris suburb warning that explosives had been place around the tower.

The bomb warning said the blast would happen at 9.30pm, said police. But by 10pm there had been no explosion.

The tower was still shut, with trained sniffer dog teams searching for a possible bomb.

‘It may be that the tower does not reopen tonight,’ said a police spokesman.

‘Searches are carrying on, but no members of the public are being allowed anywhere near. There has been a full evacuation.’

The tower is normally open until midnight during the Easter weekend, and nearby restaurants including Le Jules Verne are particularly busy on a Saturday night.

A police cordon was formed around the tower and people were moved to the banks of the nearby River Seine.

There have been numerous bomb alerts at the Eiffel Tower in recent years, and France is currently on the highest state vigilance alert because of threats from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

President Francois Hollande has placed himself at the centre of the global war against terrorism, committing troops and airpower to the on-going war in Mali.

He has also stepped up security in mainland France, where there is a constant fear that Islamic extremists will strike....

How its splendor was preventing from concentrating on prayer is unclear. But in any case, his actions here are consistent with the contempt for jahiliyya -- the society of unbelievers -- that the Qur'an inculcates (cf. 48:29). "Ancient astronomical clock in the Lyons, France Cathedral vandalized," from Pravoslavie.ru, March 27 (thanks to Filip):

An Iranian man has broken the astronomical clock of the ancient Catholic Cathedral in the French town of Lyons. According to "Le Progres.fr", on March 23, a 28-year-old citizen of Iran tried to put out of action the mechanism of the 14th-century clock in the St John the Baptist Cathedral with an iron bar. A part of the mechanism has been damaged. The vandal was arrested soon. He explained his conduct thus: splendor of the clock prevents him from concentrating on prayer, reports Sedmitza.ru.

The St. John Cathedral in Lyons, which was built between 12th and 15th centuries, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Cathedral preserves functional the astronomical clock, which is the oldest in France and one of the oldest in the World. The clock was constructed in the 14th century, and restored after destruction by Huguenots in the last quarter of the 16th Century. It received its current Baroque appearance in 1655. In the 18th century it obtained a dial with a hand. The clock indicates hours, minutes, dates, position of the Sun and the Moon relative to the Earth and also rising of the brightest stars above Lyons. The clock’s chime is accompanied by movements of figures situated in the upper part of the clock depicting scenes on religious themes, and can be heard four times a day.

Meanwhile, establishing such a center to train missionaries and spread Christianity in any Muslim country will get you killed. "Centre set up in Europe to train missionaries and spread Islam," from NitiCentral, March 22 (thanks to Lookmann):

Centre set up in Europe to train missionaries and spread IslamIn its December 30, 2012 issue, Urdu daily Dainik Munsif, reported that a special centre has been set up in France to propagate Islam in which around 300 youths are being given training. The youths will work as Imams in mosques and impart Islamic teachings.

According to the daily, out of 300 people, around 150 are Christian converts. They are being given religious teachings along with Arabic, and are also being trained to work as Imam. Women however, will not be allowed to work at this centre.

The daily also claimed that trained Islamic missionaries will be sent across Europe to propagate Islam. At present, there are 2,260 mosques in France where Islamic training is being given.

They still haven't found those who were involved in these jihad massacres, which targeted the people whom the Qur'an designates as the worst enemies of the Muslims (cf. 5:82).

"France Arrests Two Over Toulouse Shootings," from Arutz Sheva, March 27:

French police on Tuesday arrested two men on suspicion of complicity with Islamist terrorist Mohamed Merah, who killed seven people, including a rabbi and three Jewish school children, in the city of Toulouse a year ago.

An anti-terror unit arrested the pair in Toulouse, police officials said, without providing details on their identity, the AFP news agency reported.

Two men aged 19 and 22 were arrested a month earlier on suspicion of assisting Merah, aged 23, who was shot dead in a police siege after killing a rabbi, three Jewish children and three paratroopers outside the Otzar HaTorah Jewish day school.

They were released without charge, as were three others arrested before them, according to AFP.

French police doubt that Merah, a self-described Al-Qaeda sympathizer, could have acted alone, but the only individual charged thus far with complicity in the crime has been his brother Abdelkader.

France has seen a 45 percent increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents since the Toulouse shootings.