February 26, 2006
In memory of Ilan Halimi
Indeed, as I posted earlier, this is 2006 France. May he rest in peace.
"I want you to understand and visualize that in this year of 2006, in the Paris suburbs, Ilan Halimi remained naked in a cellar, handcuffed and gagged so that no one would hear his screams over a period of more than three weeks.Posted by Carine at February 26, 2006 06:33 PM"There was a tiny hole in the gag to allow a minimum of food through a straw. A cigarette was stubbed out on his forehead with the words "That, it's because you're a Jew." He was repeatedly beaten and cut with cutters.
"He was, it is thought (we are awaiting confirmation from the state prosecutor), amputated of an ear and several fingers, without anesthetics, of course, screaming behind his gag with no hope of being heard.
"He received a deep wound from a knife before being soused in white spirits and set alight.
"Eighty percent of his body was covered in burns when he finally died in the ambulance, having at last been found agonizing in the early hours of morning near a station at the back and beyond of the Essone (Paris suburb). He was just a young telephone salesman, the son of poor working-class Jews from North Africa.
"We are no longer living in the times of the Inquisition, nor those of the pogroms of Eastern Europe, nor in Auschwitz, but in France in 2006.
How tragic. How useless. May God be with his family.
Posted by: Jon S. at February 27, 2006 02:11 PMCarine, I perhaps should have emailed this to you, but regardless, you should read this commentary from Washington Times.
It is related to the murder in this post....
Here
There are two groups that are trying to take over your country, one group tries to gain supremacy by attack and torture, the other group tries to gain supremacy by obstructing the fight against the first group. The second group then invokes a fools hope that the first group will go away, and by then it's too late. Both groups have to be defeated, in France as well as all other western countries.
Posted by: Mike H. at February 28, 2006 09:51 PMFirst, I obviously agree with you: this murder is awfull
but
there is still no proof that this muder is an antisemit case. The justice will have to say.
Morevoer, I don't think we have to be shocked that such a thing could happen to a jew in 2006: we only have to be shocked that some people are able to do that to an other human being, whatever is colour, origin or religion.
Now we have the impression that any time a jew is hurt or worst, it's more important than anything else. Jews are french citizen as any others: they have no more, no less, rights than catholics or muslims or anything else. And unfortunately they can be injured or murdered as any other citizens. But when a white atheist man is injured by a muslim, a black guy or a white skinhead, he doesn't match the headlines. Why ?
The problems that encounter the jewish community mustn't be hide, but they musn't be overestimated.
Whereas about 5 people are killed each month in Israel, France must still be a safer country for jewish. So come to France, discover laicity, and forget a moment your religion when your not at Temple to talk with your neightboor. It's a nice guy ! you'll see.
Sylvain,
There is plenty of evidence that this was an anti-Semitic murder. Pick up your information elsewhere than at the Guignols de l'Info.
As for anti-Semitism, some of the evidence of its non-existence in France can be found here.
We never claimed the massacre of a Jewish man (for that's what it was) was more horrible than the massacre of a Muslim or a Catholic. The problem is that Jews have been again the target of increasing attacks. They're the most touched by racist attacks and insults.
That the French government and media deny it is not new, nor surprising. That some of the details of Ilan Halimi's murder are voluntarily silenced is not surprising either. As I've argued elsewhere, France isn't exactly a free country and certainly hasn't got a free press and free media, even if there is no official censorship.
