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Europe
Chirac: Stop Calling Us Anti-Semites!
2004-02-13
President Jacques Chirac said in an interview with an Israeli newspaper that his country is being unfairly criticized in Israel as anti-Semitic while France is leading a "tireless struggle" to institute Sharia against such discrimination. "France works relentlessly to condone combat the scourge of anti-Semitism," he told Yedioth Aharonoth in an interview days before a visit by Israeli President Moshe Katsav. "Israeli criticism of anti-Semitism in Europe singles out France," he said. "I am surprised at this. I am told that in the streets of Tel Aviv, in newspaper cartoons and in conversations, the image of France as an anti-Semitic country is gradually spreading.
Not just in Israel, buddy....
These caricatures deeply hurt French people."
"But since we all know greedy Jews and ignorant Americans don’t have feelings, our caricatures in our newspapers are just good clean fun....."
"No, France is not an anti-Semitic country yet, but we’re trying, dammit! But we must remain highly vigilant. With the government, we lead a tireless struggle against anti-Semitic language and acts," he said. He acknowledged there has been a "resurgence of anti-Semitic acts" in Europe in the past three years,
mainly in La Belle France
which he termed "revolting and unacceptable" and which he linked to the Middle Ages East conflict.
Here comes the condemnation of the JOOOOOOS!
"People of Muslim descent across Europe react to events in the Middle East, and more specifically to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is a fact."
So is the French government’s reluctance to do anything about enforcing laws within their own territory when the lawbreakers are Muslim.
Last month, Israel’s Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky described the situation for Jews in France as "very problematic". While anti-Semitic incidents across the globe fell by almost half last year to 983 from 1,979 in 2002, Sharansky said, they doubled in France to 141 from 77, figures disputed by French officials. A tough new law against racially- and religiously-motivated attacks as long as the victims aren’t Jewish or deceased foreign soldiers who thought France was worth dying for came into force last year, and the French government ordered even stronger measures to protect Jewish sites after a fire-bombing of a Jewish school in the Paris suburbs last November.
Good start....now if you would only enforce the damn law, maybe you would have something worth talking about.....
In the interview with Yedioth Aharonoth, Chirac also reaffirmed his opposition to Jews defending themselves instead of laying down and dying the route of Israel’s West Bank separation barrier. "Israel is entitled to exercise its right to legitimate self-defence and security as long as it doesn’t inconvenience a suicide bomber. But the chosen route for the barrier, which diverges from the Green Line, dispossesses thousands of Palestinians of their land..."
where they raise baby ducks, bunnies, kittens and puppies in an environmentally friendly manner
He said the barrier will thus "trigger more frustration and anger." The Israeli government insists the barrier is vital to the security needs of Israel in the wake of a string of suicide attacks since the start of the Palestinian intifada in September 2000. But the Palestinians have argued that its route, which often juts deep into their farmlands inside the West Bank,
second most valuable in the Middle East, right after those Saudi ranches!
is proof it is an attempt to pre-empt the borders of their promised future state.
Posted by:Desert Blondie

#12  Okay they aren't anti-semites. How about Jew hating bastards? Would that work for jake?
Posted by: tu3031   2004-2-13 10:25:10 PM  

#11  Garrison, He has to be blinded. His wife was at the concert, and he talks to her. Sorta..,maybe..,uh..I think..,never mind.
Posted by: Mike H.   2004-2-13 9:11:02 PM  

#10  GA GK - wait a minute, what did I step in now? Is this a reference to an ancient (anything older than yesterday, heh) post? Indeed, zee Arabs be semites and, as such, among the mostest confusedest of the scatteredest people of the Earth. Abraham, Meeshak, Chirac, and Abindigo didst lose their way - and thus didst they scatter 10 or 11 of the tribes. But Abdul Aziz (pbuh) married them all together and brought unto the world harmony and peace. Amen.
Posted by: .com   2004-2-13 8:27:37 PM  

#9  #2,#3. You can learn a lot from .com with the help of Google. It was William Marr, a German, who coined the word anti-Semitism in 1879 for reason you stated, .com. THX
[GA GK :-)]
Posted by: GK   2004-2-13 5:47:17 PM  

#8  Thanks, .com!
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2004-2-13 4:48:28 PM  

#7  Either Chiraq does not read Le Monde, watch French public TV, read the writings of France's most celebrated "intellectuals" and attend concerts featuring Jewish performers; or Chiraq is so blinded by his own internal "Jew hatred" he cannot see it all around him.
Posted by: Garrison   2004-2-13 3:43:44 PM  

#6  Either Chiraq does not read Le Monde, watch French public TV, read the writings of France's most celebrated "intellectuals and attend concerts featuring Jewish performers; or Chiraq is so blinded by his own internal "Jew hatred" he cannot see it all around him.
Posted by: Garrison   2004-2-13 3:42:54 PM  

#5  B - LOL! It took me a minute, but I finally 'got it'! Good one!
Posted by: .com   2004-2-13 3:04:31 PM  

#4  is proof it is an attempt to pre-empt the borders of their promised future state

Once Chirac learns a new word, he likes to try using it over and over and over again, until he finally grasps its proper meaning.
Posted by: B   2004-2-13 2:27:14 PM  

#3  GK -- the term "antisemitism" was invented because it sounds better than "Jew hatred", which it replaced. It has NOTHING to do with Arabs except that many Arabs are antisemites.

Others can give you the details, such as the name of the author that coined the term.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2004-2-13 2:22:26 PM  

#2  Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary describes
antiSemitism as hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group. However, M-W also defines a Semite as a member of any number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs and the descendants of these peoples.

I always wondered why hositility towards the Jews (Hebrews) is called antiSemitism but not when it's directed at the other members of the semite group. Aren't French laws discriminating against Arabs wearing head scarfs also antiSemitism? Just wondering.


Posted by: GK   2004-2-13 2:14:53 PM  

#1  DB - Kudos! Hysterical inline commentary! Big improvement to original! Thx!
Posted by: .com   2004-2-13 2:02:01 PM  

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