4. november 2005

'The Eurabian civil war' Radio Blogger interviews Mark Steyn about the Paris riots: I'm actually thinking of going to Paris. I went to one of these suburbs that's currently ablaze three years ago. And what was interesting to me is I had to bribe a taxi driver a considerable amount of money just to take me out there. They're miserable places. But what was interesting to me is that after that, I then flew on to the Middle East, and I was in Yemen, and a couple of other places. And what was interesting to me was that I found more menace in the suburbs of Paris than I did in some pretty scary places in the Middle East. I mean, there is a real...this, I think, is the start of a long Eurabian civil war we're witnessing here. Steyn is always pessimistic about Europe, too much so, I think, but I fear he may have a point here. These riots may not burn out (if you'll excuse the expression), and the unrest could easily spread to other European countries. I'm not going to make any predictions, but it's not inconceivable that this is the start of a long-term violent conflict in Europe, if not an outright civil war. Well, I'm going to make one prediction: The French will find a way to blame Bush. PS: Another prediction: The far right will benefit from this in elections across Europe over the next years. Both Muslim immigrants and natives will be radicalised by violence and heated rhetoric. Who wants to be caught in the middle between islamo-fascists and Europe's old-style fascists? 9:48:57 PM    comment []  trackback []

Handicapped woman set on fire by Paris rioters French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy received a lot of flak from the liberal press for his tough talk about the rioters. I'd say he had a point. A handicapped woman was doused with petrol and set on fire by youths during another night of rioting in Paris. The 56-year-old suffered third degree burns to 20% of her body in the attack. Witnesses said a youth poured petrol over the woman and then threw a Molotov cocktail on to the bus she was travelling on in the suburb of Sevran. Other passengers were able to flee but she was unable to escape because of her disabilities. A sickening crime. Europeans have been glorifying Arab riots in Palestine for many years. They shouldn't be so shocked that the intifada comes home to those who praised it. PS: I have no idea if its inspired by the events in France, but in the United States, conservative lawmakers think it's time to do something drastic about immigration. House Republicans are looking closely at ending birthright citizenship and building a barrier along the entire U.S.-Mexico border as they search for solutions to illegal immigration. While not an argument for unlimited immigration, I think the US should be happy that its immigrants come for money and jobs. 9:29:11 PM    comment []  trackback []

Denmark's brush with Muslim rage While the situation is getting rapidly out of control in France, Denmark is also seeing some bad omens. Jyllands-Posten, Denmark's leading daily, defied Islam's ban on images of the Prophet by printing cartoons by 12 different artists. In one he is depicted as a sabre-wielding terrorist accompanied by women in burqas, in another his turban appears to be a bomb and in a third he is portrayed as a schoolboy by a blackboard. The ambassadors of 11 Muslim countries called on Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the prime minister, to take "necessary steps" against the "defamation of Islam". But Mr Rasmussen, the head of a centre-Right minority coalition dependent for its survival on support from an anti-foreigner party, called the cartoons a "necessary provocation" and refused to act. "I will never accept that respect for a religious stance leads to the curtailment of criticism, humour and satire in the press," he said. One of these countries were Turkey, demonstrating the EU-aspirant doesn't really get this thing about democracy. Newspaper editors and cartoonists have received threats from Muslims that, post-Theo Van Gogh, they have every reason to take seriously. While European Christians have more or less gotten used to satire and insults, Europe's Muslims are all too willing to resort to violence, threats and intimidation to curtail free speech. 5:58:31 PM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2005 Jan Haugland. Last update: 29.11.2005; 04:08:32.