Will the murder of Samuel Paty at long last lead France to do what it must to meet the Islamic threat within? Or will there be rhetorical resolution, a laying of flowers, marches of solidarity in major cities, a series of well-publicized roundups and then, again, a relaxing of resolve and of raids, as happened after the Charlie Hebdo murders? The story of what’s going on in France in the wake of that murder is here: “4 students detained after French teacher’s beheading,” by Alexandre Hielard and Clare Byrne, AFP, October 19, 2020:
French police on Monday [Oct.19] launched a series of raids targeting Islamist networks three days after the beheading of a history teacher who had shown his students a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin vowed there would be “not a minute’s respite for enemies of the Republic,” after tens of thousands took part in rallies countrywide on Sunday to honor history teacher Samuel Paty, and defend freedom of expression.
Fifteen people were in custody on Monday, according to a judicial source, including four students who may have helped the killer identify the teacher in return for payment.
This is disturbing. Did these students not notice that the suspect was carrying a large knife, that he was agitated, that he might have murder and mayhem on his mind? They might have replied that “he’s not here” or “he went home.” They might have warned Mr. Paty himself, or the principal. Did any of them think of that, or were they – “just for a handful of silver” – willing to betray their teacher? Or were these four students Muslims who may have been happy to have Mr. Paty appropriately punished for his blasphemy by a fellow Believer?
Those detained also included four members of the killer’s family, as well as a known Islamist radical and the father of one of Paty’s students, who had launched an online campaign against the teacher.
That “known Islamist radical” is Abdelhakim Sefrioui — a Moroccan-born Islamist described by one prominent French Muslim leader as “dangerous.” On Thursday — the day before Paty’s killing — Sefrioui arrived at the school, where he filmed an interview with a female Muslim student who claimed that Paty had told her she might want to “leave the class,” before showing students an image of a “naked man” who supposedly represented Muhammad. After meeting with members of the school management, Sefrioui issued a statement asserting that Muslim children “had been attacked and humiliated in front of their classmates.” He then demanded the immediate suspension of Paty, whom he referred to as “this thug.”
Of course no Muslim children had been either attacked or humiliated in Paty’s class. He had been solicitous of their feelings, telling them they could leave the room during this particular discussion of caricatures of Muhammad. All but one did; that one – who claims she remained “by accident” in the classroom (or did she remain so as to deliberately witness something offensive to Muslims, that she then might later complain about, showing what a good Muslim girl she was?) — told her father. He was enraged, made a video about the class , and that started the sinister ball rolling that ended in the decapitation of Mr. Paty. “French Arrest Antisemitic, Pro Hamas Imam in Connection to Beheading of Teacher,” StopAntisemitism.org, October 19, 2020:
Sefrioui is well-known to French intelligence, whose agents have monitored his statements and activities for nearly 20 years, according to Bernard Godard, an expert on Islam and former adviser to France’s Interior Ministry, in an interview with the news outlet Marianne.
Much of Sefrioui’s activism has revolved around solidarity with the Palestinians, expressed through virulent anti-Zionism and antisemitism. In 2006, he campaigned on behalf of the presidential campaign of the comedian Dieudonné — who was recently banned across a host of social media platforms for his Holocaust denial and his crude antisemitism.
In 2014, as head of a collective of pro-Palestinian organizations named in honor of the late Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Sefrioui was a key organizer of demonstrations in Paris against Israel’s incursion into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, furiously asserting at one rally that the coastal enclave was “the worst concentration camp mankind has ever known.”
Here is what puzzles me. The French police have been watching Sefrioui for “nearly 20 years.” 20 years! They know he has made death threats to the moderate imam of Drancy, Hassen Chalgoumi. They know that he has been guilty of hate speech against Israelis, accusing them of running “the worst concentration camp mankind has ever known.” They know that he has supported the Holocaust denier and antisemite Dieudonné. What else do they need to know to expel Sefrioui back to Morocco as a threat to public order and to the safety of Infidels, especially Jews? Why have they been so lax? It is only now they will at long last do something about Abdelhakim Sefrioui – or at least that is what one hopes. It’s a little late for Samuel Paty. Again from AFP:
Darmanin accused the two men [the father of the student, and Sefrioui] of having issued a “fatwa” against Paty.
That’s exactly what they did: they issued a threat on social media, to be carried out by any good Muslim willing to defend the honor of the Prophet and to punish the blaspheming Infidel. Abdoullakh Anzarov, 60 miles away, saw the video online and answered the call. The father and Sefrioui are both accessories before the fact.
Sources in the interior ministry said there had been a total of 40 raids across France on Monday, mostly around Paris, and 20 per day were planned going forward.
These raids are being carried out with such alacrity that the list of potentially dangerous Jihadis must have been prepared long ago. All it took to set off the series of raids was the murder of Mr. Paty. But why did it take anything at all for the round-the-clock raids on these Jihadis, of whom the French government admits there are “thousands” in France? Why is dramatic action taken only after an atrocity, as with Charlie Hebdo or Samuel Paty? Why the stern warnings issued about how the French forces of order this time will come down very hard, as happened after the killings by Muhammad Merah? It’s always the same script. An atrocity, a show of resolve, raids, and then those police actions inevitably die down, until the next horror is committed by Muslims. Shouldn’t the French state be carrying out dozens of raids each day, hundreds of raids every week, never letting up, in saecula saeculorum? Why are the French police not conducting dragnets in no-go neighborhoods, picking up Muslims for crimes large and small – setting fire to cars, drug dealing, street robberies, house break-ins, rapes, murders — keeping them off-balance? Why does the French state not insist on putting informants in every mosque to record the sermons, that can then be examined for the slightest hint of a call to hate or hurt the Infidels, in which case, the imam in question should be charged with hate speech, fined and imprisoned if found guilty, and upon release, if not a citizen, sent back to his country of origin.
“We want to harass and destabilize this movement in a very determined way,” one ministry source said.
Why didn’t the Interior Ministry want to “harass and destabilize this [Muslim] movement” last month, last year, two or three or five years ago? Why are the police in France always reacting to some Muslim atrocity with asseverations that this time it will be different, that the roundup is on, that no Muslim malefactor will escape, and so on – and in the end, so disappointingly forth?
Darmanin said the government would also tighten its grip on NGOs with suspected links to Islamist networks, including the Anti-Islamophobia Collective, a group that claims to monitor attacks against Muslims in France.
How unsurprising to discover that a group calling itself the “Anti-Islamophobia Collective” is in fact part of an Islamist network. If anyone needed further evidence of the meretriciousness of that word “Islamophobia” that was invented in order to shut down all criticism of Islam, by labeling it, preposterously, as a “phobia” — that is, “an irrational fear or hatred of Islam” – here it is. What Muslims and their willing collaborators label and libel as “Islamophobia” is nothing more than a most rational judgment as to both the immutable contents of the Qur’an and to the observable behavior of Muslims.
“Fear is about to change sides,” President Emmanuel Macron told a meeting of key ministers Sunday [October 18]to discuss a response to the attack….
This latest atrocity by a Muslim, in this case an angry Chechen who, to defend the honor of his Prophet, decapitated a quiet middle-school teacher, appears to have jolted the French government into action, with dozens of raids daily on Muslims suspected of terrorist links, and a promise by the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, that there will be no letup in the police raids. We can hope, but warily, for we have hoped before.
A photo of the teacher [that is, the teacher’s severed head] and a message confessing to his murder was found on the mobile phone of his killer, 18-year-old Chechen Abdullakh Anzorov, who was shot dead by police….
Anzorov’s family arrived in France from the predominantly Muslim Russian republic of Chechnya more than a decade ago….
What persuaded the French authorities to let the Anzorov family in? Did they claim to be refugees? If so, from what? Chechens in Russia are not mistreated, and some reports claim that Anzorov and his family had been living in Moscow before they left for France. Chechens in Moscow are on the low end of the socioeconomic scale, but that is not the same thing as being persecuted.
Did they perhaps claim that Moscow was only a stopover, and that they were in fact residents of Chechnya? But in Chechnya, the only people who are now persecuted are homosexuals. Surely neither Abdoulakh Anzorov, who was eight years old when he came to France, nor his seven-year-old brother, nor his parents, nor his grandfather, were being persecuted in Chechnya as homosexuals. These were, like so many Muslims who have managed to make it into Europe, or the United States (one thinks of the Tsarnaev family), economic migrants pretending to be refugees in need of asylum.
One education expert warned Monday that the murder might deter teachers from tackling touchy topics in future….
Far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen called for “wartime legislation” to combat the terror threat.
Le Pen, who has announced she will make a third bid for the French presidency in 2022, called for an “immediate” moratorium on immigration and for all foreigners on terror watch lists to be deported.
Le Pen’s suggestion is overbroad. Not all immigrants, just Muslim immigrants, need to be banned. There should be no apologies for such a Muslim ban. It is Muslims who are committing all of these murders – of Jews, of Catholic priests, of people who dared, as cartoonists or teachers, to exercise or discuss the right of free speech – and no one else. Of course with such a ban some inoffensive Muslims will be kept out, but that is the nature of the law; it applies to whole categories of people. There is no sure way to determine which Muslims might engage in violence and which would not. But we know that the Qur’an instructs them to “fight” and to “kill” and to “smite at the necks of” and to “strike terror in the hearts of” Infidels. That being the case, it is only prudent to assume that some will, if given a chance, fulfill those commands.
But Marine Le Pen is right to call for all foreigners on terror watch lists to be deported. What possible argument can there be for not doing so? And why did it take the murder of Samuel Paty to spur the French government to do what it ought always to be doing, around the clock? If suddenly the forces of order have now swung into motion, and rounded up hundreds of people whose names and terrorist sympathies have long been well-known to the authorities (“on lists”), the obvious question is why are they being rounded up only now, and why not when they were first put on the list. Once a foreigner is on a terror watch list, that ought to be enough of a reason to have them expelled from the country. If the existing law does not currently allow someone’s appearance on that list to be sufficient reason for expulsion, then the French need to pass legislation that does allow it.
After the murder of Samuel Paty, the French offered – following the post-Charlie Hebdo template — a national display of sympathy for the victim, with marches and flowers and candlelight vigils and signs saying “Je suis enseignant” (“I am a teacher”) from a populace touched to the quick. There was the posthumous awarding of the Legion d’Honneur to Paty. And there were – again as after the Charlie Hebdo killings — stern declarations by government officials that the fight against the Islamic terrorists will not let up, but from now on will be relentlessly taken to them. The “Islamists” will be shown no quarter by the forces of order, so that, as President Macron said, “fear is about to change sides.”
It is pleasant to think so, but a decade of disappointment makes one wonder. Here are some things the French state could do in order to regain the public’s confidence:
First, the French government could expel all non-French imams who are found to be preaching hatred of Infidels, or contempt for the French state, or the flouting of its laws.
Second, the government could encourage local authorities to refuse to approve the building of any new mosques.
Third, the government could prohibit any foreign funds from being used to pay salaries of imams or for the upkeep of mosques. Local Muslims will from now on have to pay for both. No French government money should be used to support mosques, madrasas, or other Islamic institutions.
Fourth, the French state could insist on recording every Friday sermon delivered in every mosque, to be subsequently checked for content by the police, and if that content proves disturbing enough, there should be prompt expulsion of imams who are not citizens[see the First Point above], and fines and jail terms for offending imams who are French citizens.
Fifth, the government could establish teams of French hackers, employed to disrupt any Islamic sites deemed dangerous to individuals (such as the late Paty), or to groups targeted by Muslims (Jews), or to the French state itself.
Sixth, there should be genetic testing of those Muslims who entered France under the policy of “family reunification” to see if, in fact, those who did so are truly related to the original “anchor relative.” When DNA testing was put in place in the United States, the extensive family reunification claims by Muslims turned out to be largely fraudulent. Why would it be any different in France?
Seventh, Muslim immigration should be halted, in the interests of both public safety and national security. Such a measure, once unthinkable, I suspect will now be enormously popular with the French people who, save for those on the delusional far left, have been forced by grim circumstances to come round to the view that the large-scale Muslim presence in France has created a situation that is far more unpleasant, expensive, and physically dangerous for the indigenous French, as well as for other, non-Muslim immigrants, than would be the case without that large-scale presence.
Eighth, President Macron should follow the lead of Germany and the U.K., and ban both the “political” and the “military” wings of Hezbollah, as inseparable parts of one terror organism. This will be a major blow to the terror group’s ability both to recruit and to raise money in Europe.
We shall soon see, in the next few months, what steps — possibly including some of those suggested just above — are taken by the French government, not just in the immediate aftermath of the murder of Samuel Paty, but in the long term, to uproot the Jihadist threat and put Muslims on notice that the mixture as before will no longer be tolerated. One hopes that this time there will be no relapsing or lessening of the pressure on Muslims and that, as President Macron promised, “fear is about to change sides.”
Cornelius says
“One education expert warned Monday that the murder might deter teachers from tackling touchy topics in future….”
Gee…..you think?
juleonly says
I hope Macron does more than talk FINALLY since he has been talking about this for several years. I read year after year that he is going to change things but he does nothing. At least they have arrested about 19 people in this beheading. But only closed the Mosque for 6 months instead of forever as it should be….he should build a museum over it dedicated to Charlie Hebro and free speech in France.
Val says
Isn’t it obvious the problem is Islam itself? Who is confused? I would have more respect for Macron if he banned Islam. There is no other viable solution. Stop whining and just get it done.
John says
EXACTLY, but no, Macron preached islamoPHILIA , stinking TRAITOR to all of Civilisation.
Martin says
EUROPRAVDA – France: Government’s response to islamist terrorism divides public opinion
Michael Copeland says
Apparently the girl “witness” was lying. She was not, in fact, present on the occasion that the cartoons were shown. She heard about it from others. She should face punishment for misleading the police.
Steve says
I hope that you and others would stop focusing on the minor issue of were Muslim’s offended or not by being subjected to a “cartoon” and focus rightly on the often despicable & violent response by Muslim’s to even the “percieved” slights on their “religion”. Muslim’s are the only “religious” group to behave thusly.
I would refer you to the desecration of Christian symbolism “piss christ” as art as proof if this assertion. Nobody, not one person from the “artist” to the gallery was threatened, assaulted, or even boycotted.
But somehow Muslim’s get a pass. It looks a lot like the soft bigotry of low expectations oft applied to minorities in the US which also needs to be extinguished.
Brando says
In France the 3 most famous newspapers are:
LIBERATION
LE MONDE
and LE FIGARO
ONLY Le Figaro is all-out in favor of free speech,reason over emotion, and against the Muslim danger, it is CLASSICAL LIBERAL but its enemies LIE and call it EXTREME RIGHT.
Liberation and Le Monde are socialist and leftist.
Only Le Figaro denounces “ISLAMO-GAUCHISME”: the PARTNERSHIP between the Muslim organizations in France and the French Left.
ALEXANDRE DEL VALLE ( French writer on Islam,Catholic )
1.He tells us it is part of the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD’s decades-long PLAN of using TAKIYA ( lying) by Pretending to be PRO-LGBT ( Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transexual).
2.They MANIPULATE, according to Del Valle, the Left by adopting the ANTI-RACISM discourse of the Left and its Denunciation of POST-COLONIALISM and SAVAGE CAPITALISM.
Peter Buckley says
The answer is simple. You keep showing the cartoons (with additions for the sake of variety again and again and again and again ad nauseum, until it becmes “normalized” and these devout muslims realise that any future jihad attack on free speech will result in the creation EVEN MORE new cartoons:
gravenimage says
Yes–*never* back down.
Steve says
Oui!
Sylvia Drummond says
Perhaps Msr Paty’s family and all victims of Mohamedan fanaticism should sue Macron and his administration for neglecting their human rights. There must be grounds for it and the paying out of millions of euros to the victims might stir him into doing something about this truly endless problem.
revereridesagain says
I agree!
“Fear is about to change sides”?
PROVE IT! Make them pay for every atrocity they commit. Sue the bastards — Macron, the mosques, those who make statements that anyone who “insults” Islam must die, arrest those who make direct and public death threats, ban the teachings. They are determined to put the fear of their god into you? Put the fear of the rule of law into them!
James Lincoln says
revereridesagain,
To your point:
Recall the 1981 lynching that bankrupted an Alabama Ku Klux Klan.
https://www.history.com/news/kkk-lynching-mother-justice
eduardo odraude says
Some of the French are becoming fully conscious that Islamic intimidation hangs over the whole of France, and just how grave that is for the future of France. That is why fear must change sides. Come back Joan of Arc!
Relic says
ici
gravenimage says
In France, Macron Claims That ‘Fear is About to Change Sides’
……………….
Well, I hope so. Not counting on it, though.
Lavéritétriomphera says
Yesterday, Macron chaired a Defend Council and a few days ago, Marine Le Pen asked for a “military legislation” to rectify the situation https://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/islamisme-marine-le-pen-reclame-une-legislation-de-guerre-20201019.
gravenimage says
Glad to hear it.
OLD GUY says
The problem is ISLAM. The islamic lifestyle is totally incompatible with western society. Islam is living in the 14th century, with its leadership dictating daily life of its followers. The Islamic ideology wants nothing short of world domination and will enslave and murder anyone who gets in their way. There is no two ways about islam, you are either with them or your the enemy, to be destroyed or used.
Goofy says
It sounds good but it is doubtful that France as a nation of laws will be able to counterbalance the Muslim terror targeting Christians and Jews as prescribed in the Koran Chapter 8 verse 12. If it tries it may plainly lose the very thing it is fighting to protect.
However, maybe an official, compulsory demand for Muslims to swear an oath of allegiance to France and the French way of life including standard fare of pork in the prisons (on the Bible and not on the Koran) with compulsory, immediate expulsion for breaking it might have the desired effect?
gravenimage says
Goofy–with all respect–the idea that if you dare defend individual rights and freedom of speech that you will lose them makes little sense.
Paul says
The french govt and people, if still ignorant about the true nature of islam, needs to study its teachings and publish the only possible conclusion.
terry sullivan says
islam is a cancer–it must be eradicated–as wsc said–whilst islam and the koran exist there will never be peace
has macron deported the 100s he claimed were being removed?
tgusa says
He seems to be admitting that he has been living in fear. His entire circle of friends and associates are probably living in fear along with him. There are lots of things in normal life to fear but you cant go through live living in fear. Mac will need to get much tougher directly confronting the the issue that frightens him. If he wants to scare those he is scared of he will need to up his game. For the good of the French people, will he, can he?