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The Saker Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
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Jews attacked in French anti-war protests national |
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news report
 Sunday April 06, 2003 08:10 by Kim Willsher
 Street protests against American and British military action in Iraq have escalated into attacks by Muslim youths on Jewish demonstrators, sparking fears of a new wave of anti-Semitism across France. ... Noam Levy, a 24-year-old French Jew, was beaten with an iron bar as he took part in a Paris protest and needed several stitches to his head. "As a Jew, I now know that I do not have a place in the anti-war protests," he said. "I was shocked by the comparison of the state of Israel to the Nazis and by anti-Zionist slogans." Street protests against American and British military action in Iraq have escalated into attacks by Muslim youths on Jewish demonstrators, sparking fears of a new wave of anti-Semitism across France. The French government was forced to appeal for calm after protesters, some of them carrying pictures of Saddam Hussein, burnt the Israeli flag and turned on Jewish students, attacking one of them with an iron bar, during a series of anti-war rallies. Officials fear that anti-war sentiment, supported by President Jacques Chirac, may be running out of control and could ignite widespread violence. Banners at recent demonstrations have shown the Star of David intertwined with a Nazi swastika, while protesters shouted "Vive Chirac! Stop the Jews". In response, French police have announced the formation of a new unit to investigate "racist and anti-Semitic crimes", and stepped-up protection for synagogues and Jewish schools. Jean-Paul Proust, the head of the Paris Prefecture of Police, promised the new unit would "systematically follow up all complaints". President Chirac, whose bitter opposition to the United States-led military offensive in Iraq has won him almost universal support in France, has remained silent on the attacks, but his prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, sought to rein in public sentiment, saying that people should "not choose the wrong enemy". Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister, also warned demonstrators not to use the war in Iraq as an excuse for violence. "Whether it is a case of French Muslims or French Jews, each has the right to pray, believe and live his faith as he sees fit," he said. Public passions have been fuelled by anti-war rhetoric in the French media, which has concentrated on civilian casualties and highlighted setbacks suffered by the coalition forces. An opinion poll in the newspaper Le Monde found that almost a third of French people wanted Saddam to win the war. Only 53 per cent wanted the Anglo-American forces to triumph. The fears of increased anti-Semitism come only a month after the French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin allegedly told a group of centre-Right MPs that "the hawks in the US administration are in the hands of [Ariel] Sharon". At a private meeting, Mr Villepin referred scathingly to the "pro-Zionist" lobby, including Paul Wolfowitz, America's deputy defence secretary, Richard Perle, who recently resigned as chairman of President Bush's defence policy review board, and Elliot Abrams, the head of the National Security Council, according to the weekly satirical magazine Le Canard Enchaine. In his attempt to redress the balance, Mr Raffarin said last week: "We believe that this war was a bad choice - but the Americans are not our enemies. Being against the war does not mean that we want dictatorship to triumph over democracy. Our camp is the camp of democracy." A government official admitted to concern about increasing tensions, particularly in the banlieus, the sprawling suburbs of France's main cities. In these areas of high immigration, police report a growing amount of anti-US, anti-British and anti-Jewish graffiti. The official said: "It would only take a spark for this hostility to feed into uncontrolled forms of violence." Last week vandals defaced a memorial at a British First World War cemetery in northern France, daubing a demand that Britain "dig up its rubbish which is contaminating our soil" alongside a swastika. Meanwhile, staff at the British Embassy in Paris have been advised to "play down our Britishness" after several reported being harassed. At a security briefing they were told to avoid speaking English in sensitive situations, to avoid directing taxis to the embassy building in the rue Faubourg St Honore and to change their diplomatic car plates. The ambassador, Sir John Holmes, has been given extra French police protection. Noam Levy, a 24-year-old French Jew, was beaten with an iron bar as he took part in a Paris protest and needed several stitches to his head. "As a Jew, I now know that I do not have a place in the anti-war protests," he said. "I was shocked by the comparison of the state of Israel to the Nazis and by anti-Zionist slogans." The National Consultative Committee on Human Rights said that acts of violence against Jews and Jewish property in France had increased six times in 2002. |
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Comments (13 of 13)
Jump To Comment: 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1The one I got rid of last year?
Out date info there boyo,
And how you can't respond to any actually arguments.
Go scream and have a hissy fit somewhere else.
See I know you drive a VW as well Aidan. Guess which is healthier for the environment.
We will guarantee the safety of any Jews going on Irish anti war protests. Several Jews attended the Belfast anti war protests, again we oversaw their safety then, and we will be guaranteeing their safety in any forthcoming Anti dumbwar bushit protest. Of course we cannot protect our Jewish people from PSNI violence, but we will try our best. Keep safe. As becky bondage says 'Stand strong, stand proud'.
I'm telling you this collective is the most embittered and hard fought over organisation in the country with many factions usings insidious tactics to seize power but for a moment, only to have it wrestled from their grasps by an equally desperate foe.
If it's not the Trots, it's the WSM, or the NI Greens, or the Israeli agents, or Labour Youth, or whoever the fuck you care about,
Now really I am seriously off for a bit to enjoy myself
You lazy trots prefer to censor the arguaments rather that refute them, which is this case at least should be easy to do, it is not suprising that years of listening to RTE spinning the news has ill prepared you for the art of open debate.
Well for starts I've changed my glasses. And I use Aidan, and only Aidan when on this board.
You do seem to know alot about me though.
Exactly how is this article a breach of news guidelines, and these aren't?
http://www.indymedia.ie/cgi-bin/newswire.cgi?id=40933&start=0
http://www.indymedia.ie/cgi-bin/newswire.cgi?id=40884&start=0
http://www.indymedia.ie/cgi-bin/newswire.cgi?id=40828&start=10
http://www.indymedia.ie/cgi-bin/newswire.cgi?id=40529&start=60
And those are just four examples posted on the site since Friday.
They're all cut n paste jobs, two of them aren't directly related to Ireland, yet you aren't screaming that they be removed.
I'm not a fan of cut n paste jobs, and think there should be less of them on the newswire, if you feel so strongly about this issue, you could particapate in editorial collective by joining the editorial list. But this is about you having a double standard, only articles you approve of should be allowed here.
As for your other two complaints. It is news, news that you don't see and relevant, but news non the less. Accurate as truthful, unfortunately yes, and maybe instead of frothing at the mouth and demanding something be do about this is that high pitched beligerant whinge of yours, you could write a rational counterpoint comment.
As for not responding, it's a pleasant sunday afternoon if you think I am as sad as you and can only spend my day waiting to pick a fight, you're mistaken. I'm off down the park.
Finally I'd ask you to limit the threats and abuse you fling at both myself and Daithi. They'll only be removed.
That you use to abuse anybody who doesn't agree with your control freak views. And yes - As far as I'm aware all cut and paste articles are to be deleted - only those that just contained a brief summary and a link to the article are to be allowed. Or is it a cause of double standards because Daithi is a good working mate of yours that this Non news article, if it were published by anyone else would rightly be deleted on site as in clear and blatant breach of Indymedia guidelines? So come down off your high horse Aidan 'boss' O'Brien. Maybe you need a new pair of glasses to replace those horrible black idiotic looking ill fitting glsasses that you have at the moment as they are obviously not doing the job.
Your petulant demand that we put the Rachel Corrie story on the front page was what?
You are playing a double standard here, essentially articles you like, even if they're not relevant to ireland, should be promoted and given prominace, while articles you hate, should be deleted at once?
And we're biased?
Okay this article is not crossposted I've not found it on another newswire, it is a cut and paste, and we try and discourage it, but it's not a reason to delete stuff. Finally it's biased, yes, but lots of stories posted on IMC Ireland are biased.
You can see this as fitting into your conspiracy, which is what you'd do anyway.
Why haven't these clearly illegal comments been removed - Is it that Indymedia.IE supports them?
I'm sure these hate comments are against the law, if not they are in very bad taste, I think they are a discrace and should be deleted, before more impressionable minds are damaged.
I think you guys are being far to extrem, most jewish people are ok, its a hard core that are causing problems in Israel, if it weren't for saddam & co, the labour party would be in power and israel would be a good state.
dont blame all jews for the actions on some!
Relevance to Ireland? Zero I would have thought.
'News' - No unless the increasingly discedited US/UK imperialists want to push some more desperate propaganda to try and shore up their increasingly leakly 'justification' for war.
Accurate and truthful - No - Whilst any racist attacks on Jews or anyone else for that matter are utterly deplorable I ask you Kim Willsher, What about the thousands of innocent, ordinary, working class Iraqi civilians who have been and who will be killed by the US/UK military onslaught against Iraq? What about the thousands of Israelis who don't agree with your government's ultra orthodox, extreme right wing views and who have had the great courage to brave the brutal repression by the Israeli police of any peaceful protests against the unlawful war being raged against the Iraqi people? What about the brave young American human shield who was cold bloodedly murdered by your Israeli security forces recently Kim Willsher? No doubt like the rest of you fanatics who spam Indymedias all over the world you won't even have the decency and courtesy (Nor the time) to respond to my comments.
You stated on March 7th 2001 you wished to see the distruction of the State of Israel.
I ask you now, do you support the above form of "direct action"?