59 thoughts on “Bibi’s Insult to France – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. Maybe Bibi is showing solidarity with the French-Jewish community (over the wishes of the French government). The French-Jewish community, whose sons were murdered in cold blood only because they were Jews.

    1. @ krausen: STop with the melodrama. I don’t buy it from the far anti Zionist left nor from the likes of you. Bibi has no right to do anything in France that is against the wishes of the French government. He is a foreign leader of a foreign state, not the leader of French Jewry nor a leader of world Jewry for that matter.

      1. President Hollande is not ‘France’, anymore than President Obama is the ‘United States’.
        Bibi insulted Hollande, not France.

        Lest anyone forget, the journalists were killed for their deliberate actions–challenging and criticizing Islamic beliefs. The Jews were killed for being Jews.

        1. Netanyahu was insulting the Jews of France as well as the French Republic, and in a classically anti-Semitic rhetoric, by suggesting that they don’t belong in their native country and should run fearfully to his protection, and he repeated the insult in the Grand Synagogue in Paris last night.

        2. @ krausen: When we use the term “head of state,” what does that mean to you? That he’s a private citizen representing no one but himself or that he REPRESENTS THE STATE?? Bibi insulted Hollande who was acting in his capacity as chief of state, hence he insulted the state of France. Israeli commentators berating Bibi seem to understand this, yet not you. I wonder why not?

          As for why the cartoonists were killed–it was not merely for “challenging” or “criticizing” Islamic beliefs as you falsely claim. It was for dragging the Prohpet through the mud and trampling on the entire Muslim religion and all its adherents. Shall we now have anti-Jew cartoons showing Moses fornicating with Miriam or Golda Meir as a form of not just permitted, but lionized free speech??

        3. People here in France that I’ve spoken with are first of all very shocked to see Bibi being acclaimed outside la Grande Synagogue as if it were an election ralley, and he also visited the supermarket where the four men were gunned down. The same, people yelled and acclaimed him. Disgusting.

          And I don’t want to go into discussion whether this was an antisemitic attack or not (the media, French politicians and the Jewish organizations have already decided so, and there’s nothing to do about that) but Libération has a 40 minute long interview with one of the Jewish clients who was held hostage with his girlfriend, and who were the one who spoke most with Amedy Coulibaly during the four hours. This man, Nessim Cohen, said that at no time the terrorist specifically mentioned Israel or Jews other than by saying he didn’t have anything against Jews (though French BFM-TV had claimed earlier that he chose this shop deliberately because it was Jewish), he stated that the clients were all paying taxes and so particpating in the French war in the Middel East, he was rather confused ideologically.
          “Il nous a même dit qu’il n’avait rien contre les Juifs, mais qu’on payait nos impôts à l’Etat français et donc qu’on le cautionnait.” [He even said that he had nothing against Jews, but that we were paying our taxes to the French State and thus condoning it].
          http://www.liberation.fr/societe/2015/01/11/hyper-casher-de-vincennes-soudain-j-ai-entendu-une-tres-forte-detonation_1178435

          Don’t forget he was taking hostages to have his two friends, the Kouachi brothers freed (among other things), and as someone said: in that case taking hostages in a Chinese supermarket just don’t get the same attention.

          1. @Deïr Yassin – “see Bibi being acclaimed” – whether you like it or not is up to you, but this clearly show that he was very welcomed by the Jewish community, unlike what some comment claimed.

          2. No, it doesn’t mean Bibi was “very welcomed by the Jewish community’, it means that some people didn’t respect that this was a moment of grief. Do you know the percentage of the people who acclaimed him compared with the total number of people present there ?

          3. @Deïr Yassin – I don’t know the percentage but apparently it was enough people to make you feel disgusted rather than dismissing them as a few crazies.

          4. If I understand you correctly you seem to find no problem that some people acted as if they were attending a election ralley . Keep on like that, most Frence media who’ve covered the story are shocked, and so are people I’ve read and heard. Tells us what ultra Zionism does to people and their manners, right ? Not to speak of Bibi asking French Jews to join their real home, Israel.

          5. @Deïr Yassin – whether you like it or not, for many Jews Israel represent “No more”. They may have cheered for him as much as they would for any Israeli PM that would have respect them enough to take the time, spend the money (which during election brought him a lot a criticism) and come to show support and promise them Israel is behind them.
            And a quick comment – your Chinese supermarket cliam is really disturbing. According to it, there is no more anti-semetism, only good PR. Wow… that’s a new low!

  2. The march was essentially to draw attention to the 12 cartoonists who were killed. The 4 Jews who were killed and the Muslim policeman were neither remembered nor honoured. That is why Je suis Charlie is a very divisive slogan.

  3. I found the way that Netenyahu pushed himself forward to be lacking in taste. The presence of Bennett, and theother buffoon, was excessive. They are all political figures. The person who should have attended was the Israel President, a Head of State, not a thrusting politician.

    Overall, the impression was of bossy visitors, who do not like France or care about its people.

    1. You have never tried to get on a bus in Israel, right? This is one of the many illnesses Israeli society still has to work on.

      1. i.e. getting on a bus in Israel. The classic Italian film ‘The Bicycle’ from 1948{which is a sine qua non for students of film} depicts people ‘merging’ all at once to board the bus & today in Israel it is exactly as in the film!

  4. It is not possible to completely leave religion out of these events. The Kosher store was targeted for being a Jewish destination thus those people were killed for being Jewish of being affiliated with Judaism. And while Israel does not have monopoly on Judaism, the fact 4 of the victims’ families chose to bury them in Israel tell us that, though for the French government Israel and Bibi may be the “ex-spouse… no one wants”, for the families, Bibi, as a representative of the State of Israel, is like a loved uncle on which you can rely when bad things happen.
    I think there is a lot of cynicism in bundling Abu-Mazen and Bibi invitations, as the French see him as worthy head of state, he should have been invited regardless of Bibi.
    In the stance that Bibi calls French Jews to immigrate to Israel, he is no different than any (most?) Zionist leaders in the past century. If it is an insult to France – À tes souhaits.

    1. @ Ariel: More disingenuousness on yr part. Israeli leaders NEVER tell Jews of a foreign country to leave that country while on the shores of that country. That is the height of insult. Israeli leaders tell Diaspora Jews they should or must make aliya to Israel. But they do not go to the U.S. or other countries and do it publicly right in front of the leader of that country as Bibi did in Toulouse. It’s simply unheard of. And Hollande reacted appropriately to be enraged by Bibi’s disgusting behavior.

      As for your telling the French “tough shit if you don’t like it” or the equivalent, that again is part of your rather disgusting Israeli “fuck you-don’t give a shit” attitude toward the rest of the world. It’s why the world comes to hate the likes of you more and more each day.

  5. Discontent as Bibi took the stage …

    I watched and listened to the commemoration broadcast from the Grand Synagogue of Paris. As the ceremony ended, Benyamin Natanyahu took center stage and made a speech. He started with a few words in broken French but spoke in Hebrew with a translator at his side. None of the TV channels were prepared and there was no English translation on CNN, BBC and France24. I turned to Al Jazeera which did an adequate job of translating Hebrew to English. The PM spoke quite well in the first 6-8 minutes but then he changed the subject to terror and counterterror. He started with the personal tragedy of the loss of his brother Yoni during the daring raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda. It was a hijacked Air France passenger jet. As he moved along, it became an election speech with the usual propaganda. I had taken some notes, but I won’t bother you with his words.

    He made allowance for ‘normal’ Islam and separated the ‘radical’ Islam of Hamas, Boko Haram, al Nusra, Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab and the Islamic State. In the translation I didn’t hear AQAP or AQIM, nor the mention of Hezbollah and Iran. I will look for a transcript to get the exact speech.

    Netanyahu speaking at Paris synagogue – ‘Enough with terror’ | JPost |

    Addendum: There were a few minutes of unrest before PM Netanyahu started to speak. I wasn’t sure whether there were cheers of jeers as only background shouts were heard. The camera was directed at the pulpit from which Bibi was waiting. The international audience was not shown what was happening in the Jewish congregation. From the information in your article I gather it was the moment Hollande left the synagogue which caused discontent amongst the Jewish people.

    I see now the Israeli TV had made its own video and was released today. Netanyhau stayed overnight in Paris and will visit the Kosher Market where the hostage taking took place and four persons were killed.

    1. Oui, I got the impression that Israeli media are reporting falsely that the congregation sang Hatikvah after the speech before breaking into the Marseillaise and are generally trying to suggest that Netanyahu was welcomed when he wasn’t–that they sang the Marseillaise, in fact, straight out of the scene from the film Casablanca, in protest against his insults. Your comment seems to corroborate?

  6. In the fleeting search for ‘unity,’ I find it odd that this author wanted Netanyahu to abide by the very non-unified wish of President Hollande. Consider that France, with Hollande’s tolerance if not implicit support, has been degrading French Muslims for years. Hollande and France’s credibility is therefore minimal. Now we’ll see what happens the day after the great Unity Rally. What will change in France?

    1. It is obvious that Hollande wanted people to feel unified as French citizens first, Jews, Moslems, Christians or agnostics second.

  7. Even though I am of the opinion that Bibi and Abbas were politically motivated Hollande is also politically motivated.
    I am sure Hollande can bear it for a day or two or should offer some explanation of why exactly he does not want their presence in France.
    i.e. the speculation in other posts about only a ‘few thousand’ French Jews have come to Israel is way off.
    In the north alone there are probably 1-2 thousand French Jews mostly in Safed. Their cities of choice by financial ability is Ashdod, Natanya and Jerusalem being the most expensive.

  8. Not wanted at march of Parisians, just like Marine LePen.

    Netanyahu ‘was not wanted’ in Paris march | AFP |

    Netanyahu’s conduct was widely criticised by Israeli commentators.

    “It was embarrassing, not to say disgraceful, to see Israel’s prime minister yesterday trying to push his way onto a bus that he was not supposed to board, making his way determinedly from the second row (where he was placed) to the row of leaders walking in front (which he took over), behaving in a mourning parade as in an election rally,” Ben Caspit wrote in the rightwing Maariv newspaper.

    “The reprisal was not late in coming. President Francois Hollande fell on Abu Mazen’s (Abbas’s) shoulders in a close embrace but greeted Netanyahu with a frozen hand.”

    1. @Oui – You shouldn’t forget Israeli elections are coming. Newspapers in Israel work with a strong agenda (too strong if you ask me). Netanyahu’s crime: Zionism. Same paper, Israel Hayom, writes today that according to Élysée protocols, Netanyahu was suppose to stand in the first line.
      How Hollande feel about Bibi is irrelevant. French Jews wanted him there so for Hollande to play politics is inconsiderate and unprofessional. Bibi didn’t come to France to cuddle with Hollande but to show support for the local Jews.

    2. Terror Destroys Our Youth and Hope

      If Yoav had been Arab, he would have been a legitimate target of IDF terror? Terror from all sides destroys our youth and its hope for living life to the fullest.

      Yoav Hattab, one of four victims murdered in the terrorist attack on a Kosher supermarket in Paris, was the son of the Chief Rabbi of Tunis and the director of the Jewish School, Benjamin Hattab.

      Hattab, 21, hailed from La Goulette, a coastal town in the suburbs of Tunis. He had moved to Paris to study marketing and international trade. He passed his baccalaureate degree at the Tunis French lycee, and augmented his studies by working as a small business sales manager in France.

      Yoav will be laid to rest in his beloved Israel.

      In Tunis, the persecution of Jews has reached its zenith of the past 2,000 years! Building a ghetto called Israel.

      History of Tunesian Jewish population

      1. Contrary to what has been written in most media, Yoav Hattab’s father is NOT the chief rabbi of Tunis, but a rabbi in La Goulette, the mythic seaside town on the Mediterranean just outside Tunis (lots of Tunisan Jews still return to spend their summers there), and director of a Jewish school. He was interviewed on French television, it was heartbreaking. Devastated, of course, by losing his (I think only) son, a young and very good-looking guy. He told that they’d never had problems in Tunisia, even during the Tunisian Revolution, his school was open, when the public schools were closed, and his son was never bothered by wearing the kippah, whereas he’d called his father to say that he didn’t feel safe wearing the kippah in Paris at night.
        There’s a website opened by some of his friends, and I was very touched to see his Tunisian Muslim friends grieving him. One told how he’d spent hours and hours with Yoav, discussing religion, and how happy he was that Yoav was finally visiting his beloved Land of Israel. This guy had left a message wishing him “Shabbat Shalom” just a few hours before he was killed, and how sad they all were that Yoav was being buried in Israel, and not in his native Tunisia (the Jewish cemetery Borgiel in Tunis is considered the biggest around the Mediterranean).
        I’ve read a couple of articles about whether Netanyahou have pressured the four victim’s families to bury them in Israel, but I haven’t read anything conclusive. Yoav Hattab was only a Tunisian citizen, two of the others (one born in Tunis too) were double French-Tunisian citizens, and the last one French it seems. Apparently no one was an Israeli citizen. There a funeral vigil for Yoav Hattab in Tunis on Friday, 4.000 people have already registered, but I wonder if that will change now that he’s been buried in Israel, and that his parents went there (when Tunisian Jews go to Isarel, they always pretend they’re going somewhere else), and photos of Yoav Hattab with the Israeli flag around his shoulders might change the attitude of some/many.
        This tragic story about this young Tunisian Jew who deeply loved Israel and his native Tunisia (picture of him with the Tunisan flag too, and after voting for the first democratic elections on the net) only demonstares how many people are suffering friom this conflict.
        Yoav Hattab’s maternal aunt was killed in 1985 in an attack in Djerba (oldest Jewish community in Africa, mostly Berbers) together with two other Jews (including a kid) after a Tunisian police officer opened fire to “revenge” the killing of his brother, killed during the Israeli bombing of the OLP head-quarters in Tunis on Oct 1st.
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Wooden_Leg

  9. France’s previous president was overheard in saying that he didn’t like Netanyahu at all because he is a liar. One would love to know Hollande’s private opinion of him after these latest events. I also wonder how many French Jews N. has insulted by declaring that they didn’t belong there. Lisa Goldman’s report in the Jewish Daily Forward suggests that many of them might not share that opinion:

    “… in a photograph of the capacity crowd in the synagogue sanctuary tweeted by foreign ministry spokesperson Ofir Gindelman, one can see only French flags, with not a single Israeli flag visible. This is a remarkable contrast with U.S. synagogues, where the pulpit is usually decorated with American and Israeli flags. But the piece de resistance came immediately after Netanyahu had finished delivering his speech, and had already turned his back on the crowd to leave. Before he could step down from the bimah, one of the Jewish leaders grabbed a microphone and launched into a spontaneous rendition of the French national anthem. Not Hatikvah, but the Marseillaise. Within seconds the entire audience had joined in, singing loudly and emotionally.

    Netanyahu was forced to stand there, facing the yarmulke-wearing French Jews after just having finished telling them that their true home was Israel. Were his lips pressed together because he did not know the words? He did not look pleased at all.”

    Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/forward-thinking/212583/how-bibi-tried-to-make-paris-all-about-him/

    1. I have no idea what video Lisa Goldman, intrepid reporter that she is, was watching but in the one I watched, there were Israeli flags waving in the audience and the assembled did indeed sing Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl1DpKG0biw – afterward, the assembled followed with La Marseillaise. Lisa also claims that Malian president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keitar leaped away from Netanyahu so as not to be seen touching him – and yet most of the images from the parade show the two arm in arm. In an article in +972 Magazine, Lisa also claimed that Yoav Hattab was going to be buried in Tunisia. Wrong again Lisa. All 4 victims are going to be buried in Israel as per the wishes of their family.

      Don’t get me wrong. Netanyahu could have been a little more sombre. Smiling and waving seemed inappropriate even if he wasn’t the only one doing it. I am no fan of Bibi by any means but I prefer critiques that are truthful as opposed to Lisa Goldman’s smug and wishful meanderings seemingly pulled out of the ether.

  10. Richard I would agree with you if bibi said this in America or Canada but look at where the family of the dead choose to bury their loved ones. Its a complete failure of France that they need an army of 10 000 to protect its Jewish community.

  11. Charlie Aftermath: A False Sense of Security

    Security?

    Hollande deploys 10,000 soldiers on the streets of France to protect synagogues, schools and sensitive places. Soldiers armed with machine-guns creates a sphere of anxiety, children will grow up in a climate of violence and insecurity. Awaiting the French ‘Patriot Act.’

    France’s Ministry of Interior wouldn’t confirm or comment on any of the reported mosque attacks, saying local police were handling the cases.

    1. A explosion occurred near a mosque in the eastern French town of Villefranche-sur-Saône, about 250 miles from the French capital. The blast occurred at around 6 a.m. local time (midnight ET) and destroyed the glass front of a cafe attached to the building. A police source confirming the explosion, and said the cafe was a kebab shop. {Le Progres / ParisMatch]

    2. A mosque in Le Mans, about 130 miles southwest of Paris, was attacked and shots fired just after midnight. Investigators found an exploded grenade inside the mosque and two other grenades intact. [Le Maine Libre/ France3-Pays de la Loire]

    3. A mosque in Port-la-Nouvelle, in southern France on the border of Spain, reported shots fired at a prayer room. [Midi Libre]

    A total of 20 incidents were reported and another 30 serious threats.

    Paris shooting: ‘We vomit’ on Charlie Hebdo’s sudden friends, says staff cartoonist Bernard Holtrop.

  12. [comment deleted: I have no problem with making an argument that there’s anti-Semitism in France. But cutting & pasting a list from a pro-Israel source into the comment field here is a violation of the comment rules. Comments must be ORIGINAL to this site and not consist of canned statements published elsewhere.]

  13. A Red Flag action censors Palestine debate @VrijeUniversiteit in Amsterdam

    The university withdrew its earlier consent of approval to four VU students as soon as a message was delivered of a Facenook message: VU Amsterdam Judenrein. The screenshot was exactly 11 minutes old. Sure, people of Likud Holland, job well done! Speaking of subversion of freedom of speech and right of protest, NOT when it involves the state of Israel.

    Such a sad story from an anonymous source, let’s call her Sonja.

    The debate has been rescheduled and takes place in the Nelson Mendela House in Amsterdam tonight. Quite appropriate.

    1. The VU doesn’t offer room for debate – on a day of “Je Suis Charlie.”

      NRC: Debate on academic boycott of Israel will be held despite obstacles

      A student debate on a boycott of Israel, which was canceled last night by the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam, will be held tonight at another location. The organization Students for Just Palestine (SRP) holds a panel discussion on “academic boycott” of Israel. Particpants will be Anja Meulenbelt, Abulkasim Al-Jaberial and from Israel Ronnie Barkan.

      Students for Justice in Palestine (SRP)

    2. Oui – Are you seriously protecting the term ‘Judenfrei’ (in Dutch) as legitimate topic of freedom of speech?

      You were very feisty here where the ‘call’ for genicide was forced into the text and taken out of context. I can’t think of a term more affiliated with genocide than ‘Judenfrei’.

      1. Agent provocateur – Muhamad Seher – placed a facebook message on page of student committee for Palestine (SRP). A right-wing pro-Israel organization used the screenshot (11 min.) to accuse the organization of anti-semitism with the dean of the VU A’dam. It did not originate with the students and was a malevolant act to force censorship of the debate, quite childish. It’s a Nazi slogan well known by the Dutch during the 5 years of German occupation. Never again!

  14. I quite agree, Bibi’s behavior in this event was shameful and downright embarrassing. He (as well as Bennett and Lieberman) blatantly used this event for political gain during an election race. Not only that, but the Israeli tax payer had to finance this little adventure (est. 700k NIS – almost 150k $).

    Israeli media is packed with criticism over this act, so I wouldn’t judge the entire nation. Bibi is not Israel, and Israel is not Bibi, he only represents about one fifth of the votes (according to latest polls). The reason he keeps getting elected is due to fragmentation of the rest of the political system and cheap political tricks (like the last minute unification with Lieberman).
    Hopefully we could end the cycle this time – perhaps some more examples of his true color would help push voters away from him. I know the common opinion around here is that the alternatives are just as bad, I disagree, but we’ll have to see with our own eyes.

  15. Netanyahu’s recent antics in Paris will not have done much to lessen the growing tension between Israel and Europe

    j.j.Goldberg writes in the Jewish Daily Forward (011315):

    “A classified Israeli foreign ministry document, … (warns) that 2015 will see Israel’s standing on the world stage steadily deteriorating. It predicts “worsening drift in Europe toward Palestinian positions, more parliaments recognizing the State of Palestine, fear of sanctions and labeling merchandise [to separate settlement products from tariff-free Israel-proper products] and no certainty that the United States will continue after Israel’s March elections to protect Israel with its veto.”

    In addition to labeling settlement products and parliamentary votes to recognize Palestine, the foreign ministry document warns of European nations halting the supply of replacement parts for Israeli equipment and demanding compensation for damage caused by Israel to European projects in the territories.
    “The Europeans are creating a clear link between political and economic relations, and in this context it should be remembered that Europe is Israel’s main trading partner.”
    European diplomats and politicians increasingly view Israel as responsible for the failure of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, claiming that Israel sets unreasonable conditions for a peace agreement in order to continue deepening its hold on the West Bank.

    Netanyahu has said repeatedly since last week’s attacks … that the terror plaguing Europe is the same as the terror Israel faces. He said he hoped Europe would “wake up in time” to the terrorist threat. He continued: “Israel supports Europe in its fight against terrorism and it’s time Europe supported Israel in the same fight.”
    His comments have caused resentment in France. Like most of Europe, French leaders regard Israel’s conflict with Arab terrorists as fundamentally different from the jihadist terrorism spreading from Syria to the European continent. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is seen as a territorial dispute, …

    Netanyahu’s call for Europe to “wake up” and “support Israel” in its struggle against terrorism is seen as a demand that Europe acquiesce in his effort to entrench Israeli presence in the territories, rather than withdrawing and permitting a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 lines.”

    Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/jj-goldberg/212616/secret-israeli-report-sees-rift-with-europe-growin/?#ixzz3OkgVtUi9

  16. If a Russian Orthodox Church was attacked in Israel by extriemists, Russian officials would would be the first one to be invited. Same with many other religiouns which are affiliated with a country. To not invite Israeli PM and to bundle his invitation with Abbas arrival is outragious.

    1. @ Ariel: That presumes there would be a protest march by a million Israeli Jews against such violence. There has been rampant settler/price tag violence against Christians in Israel including a devastating bombing. Can you point to the masses of Israeli Jews who marched in protest?

      1. @Richard – please point to a specific event. Making such a generelized statement is nonsense. Since goldstein, there was no such event done by civilians (thank g-d) not to mention, the ongoing conflict make any murder a more complex political issue. Personally I attended a protest in Jerusalem after the murder of Abu-Khdeir and there were thousands of people and there were more of them.
        The march in Paris had many idiologies behind it, not only anti-violence. There were freedom-of-speech, anti-terrorism, honor of the victims and I bet some islamophobes misunderstood what it stood for and joined as well.

        Would you please refer to the point of how the Bibi/Abbas bundle was created? or how it makes any sense? Not inviting the PM of the Jewish state, when 4 victims were killed for their religion and it is clear the families & community will see it as a respectful gesture, is a cold cynical step. Don’t Liberal Zionists see Israel as one repsresentitive (not nessecarily sole rep) of the Jewish people as well?

    2. Most ridiculous argument ever. The Israeli government has no relation to or authority over the practice of Judaism in France, where it has been recognized since the Revolution, 160 years before the Israeli state existed, as one of the religions of France. And I don’t know about your Russian example, but the French government would NOT ask a Vatican representative to show up and bless a rally in support of a damaged Catholic church. They’ve fought wars over that.

      1. Did somebody ask Netanyahu or the Chief Rabbi of Israel, for that matter, to come to France to ‘bless’ anything? I hadn’t read anything about that…maybe I missed the reference. And why would you presume that Israel thinks it has ‘authority’ over French Jews? You seem to be confusing Israel with the Vatican and central bodies of other religions.

        The rally was a political event, Netanyahu is a politician and it is a fact that French Jews were targeted because of being Jewish. Israeli leadership showed up to a global rally to which all national leaders were invited and welcome – but for Hollande’s telling nonsense towards Netanyahu – with the notation that Jews in France were deliberately killed. That this is framed with dramatically rising anti-Semitism combined with government sponsored Islamophobic practice in France is relevant.

  17. I’ve written once in this string and as I’ve been following it since, wanted to offer a more thoughts.

    First, a quick disclaimer…..that is, I consider Netanyahu and the increasingly amoral Israeli hard Right far more of a risk to the immediate stability and extended viability of Israel than the PA and Hamas combined.

    I also consider Abbas to be running an ‘electoral dictatorship’ on the West Bank and a self aggrandizing shill for a European core who still deeply resent Israel’s very existence and are more than satisfied to watch Palestinians and Israelis kill one another while doing anything they can to undermine Israel’s credibility and stability. And they do this while suckering Abbas into thinking they respect him as the leader of a (pseudo) state.

    http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-un-resolution-european-collusion-abbas-hamas-as-the-palestinians-worst-enemy/

    With that said….so far as I am concerned, Hollande’s demand that Netanyahu stay in Israel followed by Hollande’s leaving the synagogue as Netanyahu was about to speak was juvenile, wildly improper but, at the same time, very telling politics that seems representative of that same European core. As a ‘head of state,’ alone, Netanyahu had the same justification and right to participate as any other.

    So even as Hollande was crying ‘unity,’ he simultaneously practiced remarkably self indulgent and overt ‘disunity.’

    Just like the ultimate definition of ‘chutzpah’ being to kill one’s parents than plead for mercy as an orphan, Hollande’s cry for unity while trying to deny access to the current Israeli leader to a global ‘Unity’ rally which simultaneously addressed the atrocity at Charlie Hedbo (whose cartoons and political cartooning style I have also never liked) and the targeted murder of French Jews for being Jewish was a remarkable contortion even for an already contorted politician. Of course, the current Israeli leadership had a right; almost an obligation to particpate.

    Realize, too, that Hollande has national ratings among the French in the basement and is struggling with his own inter-party, internecine disgust. Also realize that the French government has long institutionalized and practiced its own form of islamophobia and offense to Muslims living in France.

    Though I would not accept, even for an instant, using these practices by the French as a point of ‘blame’ for the events of the past week, they also can hardly be ignored. This also makes Hollande’s demand that Netanyahu stay home more disingenuous and foolhardy still.

    I also think the poster on this string who wrote that “Netanyahu’s call for Europe to “wake up” and “support Israel” in its struggle against terrorism…’ was a ‘…a demand that Europe acquiesce in his effort to entrench Israeli presence in the territories….and permit a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 lines” is incredibly incorrect.

    I don’t agree with Netanyahu very often. I also do not at all support the expanding Israeli settlements or Gush Emunim.

    But I very much do agree with Netanyahu’s ‘call’ for Europe to recognize, better understand and ‘wake up’ with regards to their shared struggle with Israel against terrorism. The fight is against militarized/borderless Islam rather than historical/ religious Islam and national politicians do not have to be in agreement over every piece of cross national geopolitics.

    In fact, such geopolitical fragmentation are reasons why why groups like ISIS and Boko Harem exist in the first place and have been able to continue their operations to include just horrific atrocities against almost predominantly against fellow Muslims.

    ‘Unity’ must mean far more than a big march in the street and a group hug on a given afternoon but a change in the mindset and a reprioritization and reframing of shared political and military strategies. France and other western nations need to repudiate not only militarized Islamists (rather than global Islam) but their own both subtle and not so subtle islamophobic reference frames while actively repudiating those of their own who pursue this from within.

    http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/militarized-islam-the-problem-of-demonization-with-a-few-suggestions/

    Oh…a quick relevant aside….I would like to see a lot more ‘unity’ among Jews since too many of us have started to redirect the vitriol guided towards towards Israel and Jews against one another. Instead of the, ‘far antizionist left,’ as but one (reasonably gentle, actually) example from this string, how about putting the thought into a sentence or two which identifies the point of disagreement and, briefly, why…but without the affront.

  18. “The doctored photo might be seen as sexist or at least poor journalism, but you can also make an argument that, in the spirit of free speech, it has to be tolerated. Perhaps it’s appropriate, then, that the best response to HaMevaser’s version of the Paris march came from a satirical news source. The Irish Web site Waterford Whispers reimagined the same photograph with all the men edited out.”
    [Source: Washington Post]

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